The Chance to Fly
by Begin To Fray
Summary: AU: Anna works at a bar and shares an apartment with her older brother Kristoff. When new neighbours move in along the hall, a certain blonde captures Anna's attention. But life is never that simple, is it? Rated T for now. Elsanna pairing. They're not related.
1. Chapter 1

**The Chance to Fly, Chapter One.**

Anna was not a morning person. She had never been a morning person, and was unlikely to become one now. The previous night had been a late one; she had stayed on after closing time at the bar where she worked to have a few drinks with the rest of the staff. Those few drinks had turned into several hours of taking over the bar's sound system as well as the small stage at the back. The evening had only wound down at around four a.m. when pizza had been ordered and devoured and each staff member began to peel off and head home. Anna had strolled on down the street and up the three flights of stairs to her nearby apartment. OK, Anna _thought_ she had strolled home. Had any passers-by happened to been out and about pre-dawn, they would have witness more of an erratic swerving than anything resembling strolling.

But Anna was happy. She made it through the door with a smile on her face. She had the foresight – and past experience – to down a large glass of water before kicking off her heels, struggling out of her tight black jeans and flopping into her bed, dislodging her make-up bag as she hit the mattress. Anna let out a sigh, and sank down beneath her thick, soft, duvet, hearing various make-up items clatter to the floor as she settled. Sure, her job was hardly a career, the best promotion she could hope for was to one day be manager rather than bar staff. Yes, her routine was slightly unusual; she rarely awoke before midday and it wasn't unusual for her to make her way home as the sun rose. But Anna loved her job. She enjoyed the camaraderie with the rest of the bar staff and she had a rapport with the regulars – even the ones that made less than appropriate comments to her. Working at the bar had improved her confidence, and had even maybe made her less clumsy. She had only broken three glasses this week. It was true that most nights Anna would tumble into bed alone, but she had some great friends, and, for now, she was content. Her brother, Kristoff, was less impressed with her choice of occupation. He thought that Anna could, and should, be doing more with her time. He teased her about her semi-nocturnal lifestyle and often informed her that she wasn't particularly healthy, that she should eat less pizza and avoid drinking so much. Anna's retort was usually a mere roll of her eyes, or an utterance about her speedy metabolism keeping her thin.

Kristoff, despite his nagging, was a good brother to Anna. It was a fact that Anna was often thankful for. If they hadn't got along so well then living together would have been impossible. It did help though that Kristoff wasn't actually at home a lot of the time. Her brother was a professional climber. He would travel the country, and much of the world, taking part in competitions or simply exploring. His job forced him to stay in shape which is why, Anna supposed, he felt so able to get at her for her own choices. But putting aside their vast differences, the siblings were close, they shared everything, and when both were at home in their apartment they did enjoy each other's company. At the moment, however, Kristoff was away. He was climbing in Iceland, and sending photos to Anna on a daily basis. Kristoff standing beside a blasting geyser. Kristoff's feet half buried in the black sand of an Icelandic beach. Rows of multi-coloured corrugated iron houses in Reykjavik. Anna was proud of her brother, but she was not envious. Besides, sometimes he'd take her along.

When Anna had got into her bed that night, feeling only slightly tipsy and mostly just warm and glad for some sleep, she had not expected to rise until much later on in the following day. As it happened, that particular plan was not meant to be.

The next morning, as Anna wavered between sleep and wakefulness, a noise began to permeate her hazy brain.

_Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump. _

Anna groaned.

_Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump._

She rolled over in her bed, pulled a spare pillow closer to her, and plastered it over her head. That would muffle the sound. And it did. For a bit.

_Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump_.

"Argh!" Anna threw the pillow from her head and sat up in her bed. Her head felt suddenly very groggy, and she could detect a slight throbbing at the base of her neck. Now, eyes squinted against the intruding light from her sash window, Anna hauled one bare leg, and then the other, over the side of her bed. Her sockless feet hit the wooden floorboards and she let out a long exhale before standing. She took one step. Then another. Then, she felt something cylindrical beneath her left foot. Before her fuzzy head had a chance to process what was happening, the mascara she had stepped on began to roll away from her, and with its movement Anna slipped backwards, landing on her butt on the floor and pulling her duvet from her bed in an attempt to stop her fall.

_Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump._

Anna threw her head back in frustration. And cracked it into her nightstand.

"Ouch." The tone the redhead used was pitiful. If she hadn't been suffering the effects of a hangover, then the knock to her head may have been more painful. As it was, her confused state of mind did help to deaden the pain. Now Anna just felt sorry for herself.

_Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump. _

Growing increasingly more awake, Anna recognised the sound as footsteps on the hallway outside her apartment door. She looked at the clock by bedside. Nine a.m. Anna lifted herself to her feet once more and, treading more carefully this time, made her way over the window. Looking down to the street below, she saw a moving van parked outside the building and a pile of boxes by the back of it. So someone was moving in to the building. Probably to the empty apartment along the hall from Anna's, she reasoned.

_Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump. _

Anna looked at the clock again and sighed. She may as well get up now. She wasn't going to be able to sleep with that noise. Plus, now she was awake, Anna was in dire need of coffee, and perhaps a couple of painkillers. Eyeing the heap of laundry that was spewing out of the linen basket, Anna opted to put on her black jeans from the previous night. Next, she braved the 'floor-drobe' and picked a red fitted T-shirt baring the logo of a band that had played at the bar during the week. She sniffed it cautiously, deemed it safe to wear and pulled it over her head.

During the course of dressing – if it could be called such – Anna became aware that she really needed to brush her teeth, it felt as though a small family of furry rodents had taken up residence in her mouth. The redhead pulled her copper locks into a haphazard bun and made her way to the adjoining bathroom, loading her toothbrush with minty freshness and brushing away.

Finally in some state of appropriate dress for the outside world in, Anna shoved a couple of painkillers into her mouth, took a swig of water from the tap and headed for the door, intending to hit the street in search of coffee. She grabbed her keys from the kitchen counter and slipped on a pair of trainers from next to the door. She had bought the trainers when she planned on taking up running. Now, every time she puts them on she fights the urge to chuckle at her overly optimistic plan.

Anna stepped out into the hallway. And into a box.

"Shit! Sorry! Are you alright?" Anna shrieked, immediately stepping back into her doorway.

"Fine." The box replied. Well, it was the person carrying the box who replied.

"God. I am sorry though. Here, let me help you with that." Anna grabbed the edge of the box, and began to lift it from the arms that were stretched around it. As she lowered the box to the ground, intent of making sure she had done no damage to its carrier, Anna became aware of two things. Two legs. Two very feminine legs clad in pale denim. Her eyes travelled up the legs, over similarly feminine hips, and up past silky lengths of white-blonde hair, before settling on a pair of blue eyes. A pair of eyes that were a shade of blue that Anna had not seen before. A pair of eyes that were looking down to where Anna was still crouched on the floor of the hallway, arms around the cardboard box. A pair of eyes that were looking directly into Anna's hazel green pair. Anna felt all the air leave her lungs.

"Hot." Anna whispered still unable to remove her gaze from those eyes. The eyes narrowed, their eyebrows furrowing.

"Hi! I mean, Hi!" Anna practically shouted, dropping the box the remaining inch to the floor where it landed with a bump. Anna shot up from her crouched position and stuck out her hand.

"I'm Anna, and—Oh, head-rush." Anna had stood up more quickly than her hung-over head could manage, and stumbled backwards, finding her doorframe with her back, and leaning against it.

"Sorry." Anna muttered, "Sorry I bumped into you, and sorry I just sort of dropped the box just then and… I'm Anna. I live…" Anna glanced behind her to where her door remained hanging open. "There."

"Elsa," said the blonde, "and it's fine." She nodded to the box on the floor.

"Are you moving in?" Anna asked, placing her arms behind her and leaning on them against the doorframe.

"Yes. Moving in today, as you can see." Elsa replied, studying Anna with a blank expression.

"Cool! It's a good neighbourhood. Well, I mean, I like it. I work at the bar down the street. It's called Oaken's. Have you been there?" Anna was babbling now, but she was powerless to stop herself.

"No." Came the response.

"You should stop by sometime, I'll get you some drinks. One the house, of course." Anna did not know why she was still talking.

"Right." Said Elsa. Her eyes remained on Anna's face and Anna's, in turn, remained on those blue eyes, if they had not she may not have noticed them flit briefly down to Anna's chest before returning to her face.

_Did she just check me out?_ Anna wondered. _Don't be stupid. Just look at her. Although you did just pretty much hit on her with that whole 'on the house' thing. What was that? I'm such an idiot. She is gorgeous though…_

"So, anyway…" Elsa began. "I should probably…" She bent to retrieve the box from the floor.

_Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump._

The noise was louder out here in the hall, and it was accompanied by a male voice from below.

"The removal guys want to know where you want the coffee table, Elsa." The voice called.

"Babe?" the voice said as its accompanying face and tall muscular body appeared at the top of the stairs.

The man reached the hallway and caught site of Anna and Elsa.

"Oh, hi. I'm Hans." He said, holding out a hand for Anna to shake.

Anna took his hand, and looked up at the face before her. It was doubtlessly a handsome one, with deep brown eyes and a full head of matching flopping brown hair, and sideburns of a length that was daring by any standards.

"This is Anna." Came Elsa's quiet voice, "She lives…. There." She nodded towards Anna's apartment.

"Oh great, a neighbour!" Hans beamed and gave Anna's hand an enthusiastic shake. "You'll have to come over for dinner when we're all set up. It'll be good to know someone in the building, right babe?" Hans slipped an arm around Elsa's slight waist, and the blonde nodded.

Anna felt a jolt of something hit her insides. _What? You thought that someone hot moves in down the hall and you just magically begin some sort of fairytale romance? God Anna, are you still drunk? She barely said two words to you._ Anna shook her head to clear herself of the deprecating thoughts that had begin to form.

"That sounds great, I'd love to." Anna replied cheerfully, mirroring Hans' smile.

"I'm going to…" Elsa didn't finish the rest of her sentence and instead simply slid out of Hans' grasp and retrieved the box from the floor between herself and Anna. She looked at Anna once more and offered a very small smile, she once again glanced for a split second at Anna's chest and then headed off down the hall.

_OK, I definitely did not imagine it that time._ Anna thought. _She totally just checked me out!_

"Have you been in the building long?" Hans asked Anna, unknowingly pulling her thoughts away from his girlfriend and her eyes away from the departing form of the blonde.

"Oh, a couple of years. I live here with my brother. Well, sometimes I do. He's away a lot. You'll bump into him at some point though, I'm sure." Anna replied.

"Two friends in the building! Well, this day just gets better and better!" Hans said cheerfully. Anna wasn't sure how anybody could be quite so cheerful this early in the morning, and especially whilst moving house. _Isn't moving house supposed to be one of the most stressful things you can do? After getting married of course. Which he may have already done… Get a grip Anna! You don't even know her. And Hans seems nice, even if he is a bit… enthusiastic._

"Right, well I'm just off out now. So good luck with the rest of the moving, and welcome to the building!" Anna said, edging for an escape.

"Thanks Anna! Oh, hey, do you the maintenance guy's number by any chance? We need to get a key to the storage area." Hans asked, putting a hand on Anna's arm to halt her movement towards the stairs.

"Uh, sure. Just wait a minute, I'll go and find it." Anna said and retreated back into her apartment, already wondering if she actually did have the number for the maintenance guy. She left her door open and ventured into the kitchen, pulling open the drawer under the microwave. _Where is it? Where is it?_ Anna rifled through an assortment of scraps of paper, receipts and take-out menus, scrabbling to find the right scrap with the right number on it. _I definitely used to have the number…_

"Elsa…" From the open doorway Anna could hear muffled voices, she could hear Hans' voice addressing Elsa. _She must be heading back down for more boxes…_

"Kai was getting a bit agitated in the van down here, babe. I think he wants you, you know what he's like when he gets like that." Hans said.

Anna's heart sunk into the depths of her stomach. _Kai? Who is Kai? They have a child? _

"He's probably hungry and sick of being cooped up. I'll get him." This time it was the soft tones of Elsa that met Anna's ears from the hall, followed by the ever-familiar _thump, thump, thump,_ as she retreated back downstairs.

_This girl may be absolutely beautiful. She may have been checking you out. She may have the most captivating eyes you've ever seen. She may have ridiculously hot legs… those legs… No! Stop it, Anna! She is taken. Unobtainable. Possibly married, and with a child by the sounds of it. You. Must. Stop. This. _

Anna was shaking her head to rid herself of certain thoughts for the second time already this morning. She returned to scrabbling through the drawer. _See, Anna? This is why Kirstoff tells you to keep your things in better order… Ah ha! Got it!_ She pulled out a scrap of paper that read, in her own handwriting, 'Weird Olaf. Maintenance,' and then a phone number. Grasping the scrap in victory, Anna returned to the hallway where Hans stood waiting. She passed him the number.

"Oh great! Thanks Anna." He said, his smile widening to display a row of perfect white teeth.

"No problem, Hans. Nice to meet you." Anna replied. Her head was beginning to pulse once more, and her body was begging for coffee. Hans remained before her though, grinning at her. Grinning at her, and then, glancing down to her chest.

_What? What is wrong with these people? Are they both checking me out?_ Anna wondered.

"Uh, Anna? I think you might have toothpaste on your T-shirt there." Hans ventured quietly, eyes still on Anna's chest.

_Oh. _


	2. Chapter 2

**The Chance to Fly, Chapter Two**

It had been a week since the apartment down the hall had been filled. A week since Hans and Elsa became Anna's new neighbours, and yet in that week Anna hadn't glimpsed either of them again. In fact, the only sign Anna had been aware of that the couple had moved in at all was the new name filled in on the buzzer pad downstairs. Now, next to the number seven, the line read – in impossibly neat handwriting – 'Christian'. This, Anna decided, was final.

_They clearly are married. There's only one surname on their buzzer._

Yet despite this knowledge, and despite the fact that Anna had not caught sight of a even a flash of those excessive sideburns, or that glossy platinum hair, in the past seven days, still she could not shake the latter from her mind.

It was probably her schedule that kept Anna from bumping into the new residents. She had been working every night the past week, leaving for the bar around the time that most people sat down for their evening meal and not returning until well into the night.

_They probably both have proper jobs, plus they have a child, they must have the kind of routines that actual grown-ups have_, Anna thought to herself.

Sometimes she had to remind herself that she loved her job, her freedom, her unsociable hours. But only sometimes. Mainly, the times she had to remind herself of those facts were the times when she loitered slightly longer than usual at the mailboxes downstairs, or locked her door more slowly than normal, remaining in the hallway for an extra minute or so, you know, just in case. If she had a regular job, she'd probably see them leaving for work in the morning. She'd see Elsa, with little Kai balanced on her hip – _those hips_ – heading out to drop her son at preschool. If she had a regular job Anna would be home to go and have a glass of wine with Hans and Elsa in the evening after they'd all had a long day at the office and Kai was fast asleep. If she had a regular job, Anna would have to wake up at seven a.m. If she had a regular job, Anna would be taunted by having to see the unattainable blonde every day. They might become friends and she'd have to yearn for Elsa whilst trying to maintain a friendship with her and her husband. Oh, She'd feel terrible for lusting after Hans' wife when Hans seemed like such a nice guy.

_No, Anna, you're getting carried away._ Anna found that she often had to drag herself back from the little fantasies that had been playing out in her mind recently.

_You have an awesome job. You work with people you love, you get to see bands play nearly every night, and the tips from the pervy customers pay for your ice cream habit. Sure, you don't get to drool over your hot neighbour, but that's probably a good thing._ Rational Anna had taken over once more. That side of the redhead had been putting in overtime for the past week.

It was a Thursday evening, Anna had started her shift an hour earlier and things at Oaken's were slow. There were a couple of the regulars lined up at one end of the bar, drinking their usual drinks and bickering over the same things they did every night, putting the world to rights with plans which grew increasingly ill-advised with each consecutive beverage. Anna had changed a couple of barrels in the cellar, she had polished the taps and restocked the nuts. Now, she was bored, leaning on the bar and perusing the daily papers that were delivered to the bar each morning.

_'Winter Predicted Coldest in Over a Decade…'_

'Declared Dead: Senator Anderson and Wife, One Year on…'

'_Tension in Eastern Provinces Reaches new Peak…'_

Anna flicked through the pages. There was never any good news. Thursdays were always slow at Oaken's, there was no live music, and not a lot that needed doing, so Anna was the only member of staff working that night and the evening dragged on in a similar fashion. A few groups of men in suits came in for works drinks and Anna graced them with a smile on her face and gained a few extra tips in the jar. She chatted with the regulars until closing time and then loaded the glasses into the washer. She emptied the drip trays, wiped down the surfaces, and headed home. For once, she was leaving at a reasonable time. It was only just midnight.

The papers hadn't been lying. When Anna exited Oaken's and locked up behind her, there was a definite chill in the air. She pulled her jacket tighter around herself and made a mental note that it was probably time for the leather jacket to return to the closet until next year. Tomorrow she would break out the hat.

_You're getting a thrill over bringing out your winter hat. Anna, you must find better things to occupy your mind._ Anna thought to herself as she strolled down the street.

This time, there had been no after-work drinks, no rough-and-ready karaoke, no mad dancing with workmates on the empty stage. This time Anna really did stroll, there was no staggering home on a Thursday.

Anna reached her apartment building, pulled her keys from her jacket pocket and made a conscious effort not to even glance at the new name above her own on the buzzer pad. She closed the door quietly behind her – a few shouts from angry neighbours in the small hours had taught her to enter the building with care – and trudged up the three flights of stairs. One of the joys of an early night – or early in Anna's mind at least – was the ability to actually get ready for bed, rather than just remove her jeans and fall into the sheets. She washed the make-up from her face and brushed out her rust-red hair, allowing the waves that her trademark plaits had created to remain in place. Anna brushed her teeth, now with the utmost attention to where any excess toothpaste landed, and slid under her warm duvet. She lay back and sighed. God, Anna loved her bed. She wasn't quite ready for sleep yet though.

Anna knew it was insane how much time she had spent thinking about Elsa. She knew that she had only met the woman for a matter of minutes, and that for the majority of those minutes Elsa was simply trying to avoid looking at the obvious toothpaste gloop on Anna's T-shirt. She knew she must have come off as a complete idiot, first literally bumping into Elsa, then dropping the removal box on the floor and falling into her own doorframe. She had called Elsa called her 'Hot' to her face, for crying out loud. In regards to that particular chunk of word-vomit, Anna had convinced herself that Elsa hadn't heard what she said. But whichever way she looked at it, something in those minutes had had an effect on Anna. She wasn't one for love at first sight; she didn't believe that love could simply stem from opening a door and falling into the first person in her line of vision. But still, it had been a week now, yet Elsa was never far from Anna's thoughts. The blonde had barely spoken; she was an enigma to Anna, a mystery… a married woman. A married woman, with a child. Anna sighed once more. Trying (and failing) to not think about her stunningly beautiful neighbour was exhausting. And it was with one last-ditch attempt to empty her mind of arctic blue eyes that Anna succumbed to sleep. 

* * *

The next morning, Anna awoke at a reasonable time. 10.30am is reasonable, right? Anna was sure that it was. She had got up, succeeded in dressing herself in her usual attire of tight jeans – green today – and a fitted band T-shirt. She knew the look was getting old, but she worked in a music venue, she got a lot of free T-shirts, why wouldn't she wear them? Her hair was tamed out of its state of bedhead and back into its twin plaits.

Anna was now padding around her kitchen barefoot, a couple of pieces of toast balanced precariously in one hand and her stereo remote in the other. She increased the volume of whatever station the thing had landed on and, tossing the remote onto the counter, she took a large bite out of her chocolate covered toast, humming along contentedly with the radio.

Today, Anna was feeling positive. She wasn't going to think about a certain leggy blonde along the hallway, she was going to spend her day being a successful grown-up. And successful grown-ups need to take their laundry down to the laundry room and then go to the supermarket because successful grown-ups cannot continue to eat cereal for dinner at three a.m. Anna shoved the last of her toast into her mouth and prepared to leave the apartment. Remembering the chill from the previous night, Anna pulled a black beanie over her head, stuck her grocery list into her pocket and picked up her bag of laundry.

Several hours later and Anna's laundry was safely whirling away in the machines in the basement. Only some detergent had ended up on the floor, and just a singular sock had been lost somewhere between her apartment and the laundry room. Anna had been shopping and bought everything on her grocery list, and even a couple of extra items – a deli box of freshly baked double chocolate cookies, because she deserved a treat, and a carton of chocolate ice cream with chocolate chunks, because… she deserved a treat. All in all, Anna was feeing pretty proud of all she had achieved so far in her day as a successful grown-up. She may even clean the oven when she gets home, besides, she barely uses it, and it can't be that much in need of a clean.

Anna had reached the front door of her apartment building; she shifted her grocery bags into one arm, and lifted a knee to support them from beneath, resting her raised foot against the door, before scrabbling in her jacket pocket for a key. Just as she found her keys – and discovered a half-devoured candy bar in the process – the door before her swung open. Anna was caught off guard and immediately dropped her grocery bags to the floor, spilling the contents across the mat inside the door.

"Shit!" Anna exclaimed, immediately bending down to gather up her shopping as it scattered and rolled into the apartment foyer.

"Sorry. I scared you." A soft voice said from just above Anna's head. Anna glanced up, and for a minute had a distinct sense of déjà vu. Legs. Thin but shapely legs, hugged tightly by pale blue denim before disappearing under the hem of a tailored black coat. Elsa crouched down to help Anna collect her groceries.

"I… Uh… No, you didn't scare me. Just…" Anna struggled to form a sentence. She was being confronted by the woman who had plagued her thoughts for a week and if anything, Elsa was even more beautiful than she had remembered. _How can that even be possible_? She wondered. But it was the true; this woman must be laced with some sort of magic. Her hair could rival actual platinum, and it shone like a mirror. Anna forced her mind away from thoughts of running her fingers through it. Elsa's skin was pale but utterly without flaws. And those eyes… For days Anna had only to close her own eyes in order to conjure up the image of those clear blues.

"Sweet tooth?" Elsa asked, studying the carton of ice cream in her hand, a small smile playing on her lips. She remained lowered to the floor, her legs bent and her weight supported by slightly heeled black Chelsea boots.

Anna looked up from where she had just retrieved a pack of tampons from the mat, shoving it hurriedly back into the grocery bag, and hoping Elsa hadn't noticed. She hadn't expected Elsa's face to be so close to her own.

"Uh… Chocolate… it's a weakness." Anna stated with wide eyes, before crushing the last items back into the bag, grabbing the deli box of cookies from the floor by her converse-clad foot and standing abruptly.

"I know the feeling," Elsa offered, mirroring Anna's movement and returning to a standing position; a standing position that Anna now realised placed the blonde a few inches taller than herself.

"It's Anna, right?" Elsa said, her icy blue eyes finding Anna's own mossy greens.

"Anna. Yeah. From upstairs. We met last week. Well, we collided actually. We really should stop meeting like this." Anna's verbal spewing had taken hold and as she heard the last sentence exit her mouth she internally groaned. Outwardly, however, she chuckled awkwardly and her eyes darted around the room, glancing anywhere but at Elsa. _Why, Anna? Why couldn't you be cool for once?_

Elsa laughed. She actually laughed. It was a quiet laugh, and most probably a pity laugh, but it was a laugh nonetheless. And to Anna, it was the best sound she'd heard all day.

"Well, there have been no injuries yet. I suppose we should be thankful for that." Elsa muttered, bending to place the carton of ice cream into the grocery bag. A small smile still played on her lips. Where Hans' wide grin had been open and eager, Elsa's was quiet but surprisingly warm. Hans' toothy beaming seemed more an instinctual thing, where Elsa's was a treat; it felt as though it had to be earned. Anna would love the chance to earn that smile as frequently as possible.

"That's true. And you're Elsa, aren't you?" Anna replied, trying her hardest to act as though she hadn't been rolling that name around her tongue all week, marvelling at how beautiful four little letters could be when put together in the right combination.

"I am." Came the simple response.

"Well, Elsa, if you too share a deep rooted affliction for chocolate, maybe you'd like to come up for coffee and cookies? I mean, you don't have to have coffee. Maybe you're a tea-drinker? Or a cold drink. I have cold drinks too. Probably." _Stop it, Anna, just stop. _Anna was off again.

"Oh. Well, I… That sounds really… nice. But actually I'm just on my way out." Elsa stuttered. She had lost some of her composure and gestured with her head towards the front door, accidentally flicking her long loose hair over her shoulder as she did so.

_Obviously she's going out, Anna, she was going out when you threw your groceries at her. _Anna reprimanded herself.

"I have to pick up Kai, but another time? I'd like to come over another time?" Elsa continued, turning her statement into a question. It sounded a little bit like a mother placating a small child, and Anna's heart began making its way down to her knees.

"Sure, of course. Another time." Anna said. Her rambling had been well and truly quashed.

Elsa reached out a hand towards Anna and Anna's eyes tracked its movement as though in slow motion. The hand landed gently on Anna's forearm, and Anna held her breath, studying those fingers, long and slim, musical somehow, like maybe Elsa played the piano, or perhaps violin. Anna could imagine her playing violin.

"I'll look forward to it." Elsa said softly, effectively snapping Anna's gaze up from the hand resting on her arm and straight into arctic blue pools. _Someone could drown in those… _Anna felt Elsa squeeze her arm for a fraction of a second before the hand slipped from its place and the taller woman spun on her heels, her hair fanning out behind her before coming to rest between her shoulder blades, the white-blonde a stark comparison to her black coat.

Anna remained frozen to her spot, mouth slightly open, as Elsa pulled open the front door once more and moved to step out of it. Just as the blonde was about to leave, she turned slightly and considered Anna over her shoulder.

"Make mine a tea." She said in the velvety soft tones that would now ring in Anna's ears for the rest of the day. And with that, Elsa strode out of the front door and down the street.

Anna stayed in place for a moment more before realising that her mouth was still hanging open. She shut it quickly and cleared her throat, shaking her head.

_What have you done, Anna? You're meant to avoid obsessing over your new, married, neighbour. Now you've invited her over? You invited her over for cookies. What are you, twelve? She probably doesn't even want to come, she just felt sorry for you. _Anna berated herself all the way up the three flights of stairs to her apartment.

_She did say she wanted to come though… She even said she would look forward to it… and she touched me! _Anna's internal battle had been lost once more, and her mind drifted to various – wildly unlikely – scenarios that could result from Elsa coming over to her apartment. Her day of being a successful grown-up, it seemed, would be short lived.

_Shit. I better buy some tea. _


	3. Chapter 3

**The Chance to Fly, Chapter Three**

**A.N: Hello dear readers, reviewers and followers. First of all, I'd like to thank you for taking the time to read/review/follow this story. The response so far has been great. It's been a long time since I wrote anything like this, but the power of Elsanna pulled me back in, and while I cannot get on board with the pair in a canon sense, I do enjoy a good AU where the two are not related! I'm rambling... So this is the third update in as many days, and here's the deal: I can't promise that the updates will remain this frequent, but whenever I have two chapters written, I'm happy to post one of them. I don't want to end up with nothing in reserve in the event of, duh, duh, duh, writer's block.**

**That said, on with chapter three!**

* * *

It was a Monday evening and Anna was enjoying a rare night off from working at Oaken's. It was her first night off in ten consecutive days and she was planning to relax. Not that her job was particularly stressful, but still, it's always good to have a bit of me-time. Currently, 'me-time' consisted of sitting cross-legged on the couch, with a bowl of ice cream (chocolate, with chocolate chunks, what else?) resting atop one knee and her open laptop balanced on the other. She was flicking through a new batch of photos that had been sent from Kristoff earlier in the day. He had left Iceland, having won yet another climbing competition, and was now spending a week in Sweden, not climbing, just catching up with some buddies who lived there.

_Kristoff holding a large mug of beer… Kristoff standing by a frozen river… Kristoff eye to eye with a reindeer…_

That last picture had Anna snorting through a mouthful of ice cream, a small glob of the chocolate stuff splattered onto her laptop screen, and Anna, not for the first time, was thankful that for the most part she lived alone. She pulled the sleeve of her baseball shirt down over her hand and wiped the chocolate from the screen, continuing to rub at it until the smudge had also been alleviated.

Anna opened her emails and began to compose one in response to her brother:

_'Hey Kristoffer,_

Sweden looks great! Pretty chilly though. Actually, it's quite cold here now I think of it. Bring me back one of those beer mugs will you? They look cool. Although they might hold too much for a lightweight like you, am I right?!

Your new friend seems like an interesting guy. Love the antlers. I bet he still smells better than you though. Anyway, I'm glad you've found someone you have so much in common with… Say hi from me.

_There's not much happening here to be honest. Work is still fine, I have a night off tonight, so I'm going to catch up on some shows… Nothing as exciting as the wilds of deepest, darkest, Sweden, here I'm_ _afraid. Oh! We do have come new neighbours though. They moved in down the hall last week, well, technically they're our next-door neighbours, but does it count as next door if you live in apartments? I don't know. So, the guy is called Hans, he seems nice enough, really friendly. And then there's Elsa, she—'_

Anna was interrupted from her email by a knock at the door.

_Weird,_ Anna thought, _No one rang the buzzer…_

Anna plopped her laptop on the couch beside her, pushed her ice cream bowl across the coffee table and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. _Better safe than sorry_…

Her sock-clad feet skidded to a halt on the wooden floor just before she collided with her door. Anna grasped the handle and pulled the door towards herself.

"Anna, hi!" It was Hans, and he was beaming at her, eyes wide and pearly whites on full display.

"Hey Hans. How's it going?" Anna asked, just a little curious as to why the undeniably handsome man was at her door.

"Good. Yeah, good thanks. Really settling in nicely." Hans replied nodding enthusiastically at Anna.

"Oh great, that's… I'm glad to hear that." Anna said, and her expression must have given away her curiosity in some way because Hans quickly continued.

"I brought this back, I figured it might be your only copy and you never know when you may need to use it!" Hans said, handing Anna a small scrap of paper.

Anna looked down to the paper in her hand, '_Weird Olaf. Maintenance.' _Of course. _Why did I give him this? I should have just written the number down again for him. God, it even says 'Weird' Olaf. That was mean. He's not really weird..._

"So, that Olaf is a bit… strange, right?" Hans interrupted her thoughts. "I mean, he's nice and everything, but quite… Handsy. He gave me one hell of a hug when he showed us to the storage area." Hans laughed at the memory, "He tried to hug Elsa too. Don't think she liked that much!" He laughed again.

_He tried to hug Elsa. I wish I had the balls to do that. She didn't like it though… maybe she's not much of a hugger. Maybe she doesn't like much contact. She touched me though… _Anna got lost in her thoughts for a minute before noticing that Hans was watching her blankly.

"Oh yeah, that Olaf!" Anna recovered quickly. "He's a bit of an odd one, harmless though, totally harmless." She finished.

"Yeah, I got that impression. Actually everyone has been really friendly to us. It really makes it easier to feel at home, you know?" It was clear that Hans wasn't planning on leaving just yet.

"It's a nice building. Everyone seems pretty cool. I only got yelled a couple of times for banging the front door late at night. I mean, I don't do that anymore—" Anna looked at Hans nervously, concerned that he may be beginning to wonder if she was going to be such a good neighbour after all. Her worry was unfounded though and she found that Hans was laughing once again. He seemed to do that a lot. _Maybe that's what attracted Elsa to him_…

"A bit of a night owl, are you?" Hans queried good-naturedly.

"I guess so. I work at a bar down the street, so I often get back pretty late." Anna explained.

"Oh? Do I know the place?" Hans asked. He seemed genuinely interested in her life, and Anna found herself feeling guilty for ever inwardly mocking his sideburns.

"Maybe, I don't know. Do you know Oaken's?" Anna replied.

"Yes! Just down the street? I haven't been yet, but I've heard good things about it. You guys have live music too, don't you?" Hans' face lit up with excitement.

"Yeah, most nights actually. It's a good place, you should come by." Anna said, and she found she actually meant it too. It would be nice to see Hans there sometime. Despite her natural urge to dislike the man who got to call Elsa his own, she discovered that she couldn't help but like him.

"I'm so jealous. Working there must be good fun." Hans said, shaking his head slightly.

"We have a laugh," Anna agreed, "What do you do?" Suddenly she realised that actually she knew very little about the man in front of her.

"Finance." Hans replied, a mock pout appearing on his usually smiling lips, "There are certainly no laughs involved in finance." He added.

"No, I guess not…" Anna wasn't sure how to proceed now.

"But still, it could be worse!" Hans continued, the smile gracing his face once more. It seemed it couldn't remain away for too long. "I actually work for Elsa's father's firm. It's a family business. That's how I met her actually."

_Now it's getting interesting…_

"Oh? Well, that must be nice at least, you get to work together." Anna said, searching for the silver lining in working in finance. _Elsa could be a silver lining anywhere. I'd work in the sewers if Elsa was down there… What?! Anna, that's gross._

"Work with Elsa? Oh God, no. No, she doesn't work at the firm." Hans laughed again, a look of mild disbelief flitting across his features.

"Sorry, I thought that's what you meant when you said you met her there." Anna clarified the point, though she was not sure what was so ludicrous about the idea of Elsa working in finance.

"Well, we did meet there. I was an intern at the time, just graduated. Like I said, it was Elsa's father's firm. She used to come in to have lunch with him most days. She was such a daddy's girl back then…" Hans began to explain his meeting with the blonde down the hall, but by the end of his explanation his words seemed more for himself than Anna. A slight faraway look had appeared in his eyes. Anna watched him, a little confused.

"Was?" Anna ventured.

"Hans!" A voice came from down the hallway a little way and both Anna and Hans turned to look for its source.

A perturbed Elsa was leaning around the edge of her doorframe, not quite committing to being fully in the hall.

"Oh, Anna. Hi." She spotted Anna, and her expression lightened marginally. Then her eyebrows furrowed and she glanced quickly between Hans and Anna. "What are you two doing?" She asked.

"Nothing!" Anna nearly shouted. _What are you doing Anna? You actually were doing nothing, now you've made it look like you might have been doing something… _For some inexplicable reason Anna had a sudden fear that Elsa thought she may have been flirting with Hans. It was something in the way the other woman's eyes had darted between the two of them.

At the sound of her outburst Hans looked at Anna in complete surprise, before the surprise gave way to plain confusion.

"Uh…" Hans started, still looking at Anna with a look of puzzlement. And then he regained his train of thought.

"We were just talking about that Olaf guy. Remember, babe? The one who tried hug you?" Hans told Elsa, an amused smirk spreading across his lips. "I pity the fool who tries to melt the Snow Queen with a warm hug!" Hans was laughing now, clearly enjoying his own joke.

Elsa's frown returned.

"Don't call me that." She said. The look on Elsa's face sent a literal shiver down Anna's spine. It was clear that Hans' words had upset the blonde, but Anna couldn't help but agree with them, judging by Elsa's current expression, she wouldn't want to be on the wrong side of her either. _That's new_…

"Sorry, babe. It was funny though! Your face when he wrapped his twiggy little arms around you… Hilarious." Hans' laughter had abated somewhat, but he was still chuckling quietly to himself.

Anna looked between Hans and Elsa, unsure if she should speak or just try to shuffle back into her apartment without being noticed. Elsa was pointedly not looking at Anna and she also chose to ignore the impression of Olaf that Hans was now enacting.

"The office just rang for you. They say can you call them back before you go out this evening." Elsa said, her tone flat.

Hans seemed to finally notice that neither woman was laughing at his antics. He coughed and looked over to where Elsa was still loitering in her own doorway.

"I didn't know you were going out tonight." Elsa added.

"Oh yeah, right. I have a meeting this evening; it's a phoner with Tokyo. We have to do it at their time, so…" Hans trailed off.

"Fine. Just call them back." Elsa seemed to have little interest in Hans' evening plans beyond the knowledge that he would be going out. She turned her blue eyes to Anna for the briefest of moments and then retreated back into the apartment behind her, closing the door with an audible click. Anna felt deflated. That had not been a good interlude with the object of her truly, truly, unfortunate affection.

Hans turned his attention back to Anna. He raised his eyebrows, and pretended to wipe beads of sweat from his forehead.

"Don't mess with the Snow Queen, Anna!" he said with a grin, patting Anna on the bicep a couple of times, before heading off down the hallway to the spot from which Elsa had just disappeared.

"See you around!" Hans called over his shoulder as he too moved out of sight.

_What was that? _Anna asked herself.

* * *

Later that evening, Anna had showered and changed into her pyjamas. She was back on her couch with a replenished bowl of ice cream – it was still 'me-time- after all – there was a demo CD from Oaken's humming away on the stereo, but she couldn't quite shake her thoughts away from earlier events. She had witnessed another side of Elsa. The other day when they had met, or rather converged, at the front door downstairs, Elsa had seemed… warm. She had been kind and even maybe a little flirtatious. Sure, that was probably just Anna's hopeful imagination, but the vision of Elsa looking back over her shoulder at Anna, the words, 'I'll look forward to it,' the gentle squeeze of her arm… those moments had been circulating in Anna's mind ever since.

Tonight though, Elsa was different. She was very short with Hans, she had visibly recoiled at his calling her the Snow Queen, and yet Anna had to admit that, in the moment, the title had been fitting. Elsa's icy blue eyes had pierced Anna; she would even go as far as to say that Elsa had been a bit scary. 'Don't call me that.' The words hadn't been a request, they were a demand and they had to be obeyed. Something about Hans' behaviour in the hallway had rubbed Elsa the wrong way. And the way that the blonde had looked at Hans and Anna… Her expression had given nothing at all away, but Anna had felt uncomfortable, like she was caught in the act of some kind of betrayal. It was all very confusing. But there was something else about the altercation that was worrying Anna; when Elsa had fixed her gaze on Anna, her face furrowed in a frown, her eyes daring Anna to laugh along with Hans. That look… Anna had found it to be… a bit of a turn on.

_God, Anna, you really need to get a grip. You seriously cannot keep lusting after the Snow Queen… No. Don't call her that. Not even in your head. _

Anna sighed. The evening had been puzzling but she was tired and she now made a conscious effort to put it out of her mind. She dug into her ice cream and funnelled a spoonful into her mouth. She opened her laptop and maximised the email she had been in the middle of writing to Kristoff. She was partway through re-reading her words, shamelessly making herself chuckle at the comparison between Kristoff and the reindeer, when she heard a noise. She reached over for the remote that was lying dormant on her coffee table and turned down the volume on her stereo.

She waited. The apartment was silent.

It was not uncommon for noises to permeate into her apartment from other residents of the building. In fact, the previous tenants in Hans and Elsa's place had been avid fans of jazz and Anna had often increased the volume of her own music to drown out the improvised blarings from the next apartment over. Anna listened again. There was a noise, but it was very quiet.

Anna stood from the couch and made her way into her bedroom where the wall directly joined to next door. She couldn't deny feeling like a total creep, but she pressed her ear to the wall and waited for a moment. The noise came again, and much clearer now she was in her bedroom. It sounded like… muffled sobs. No. That can't be right. _Maybe it's laughter_, Anna thought to herself,_ I hope it's laughter…_ But it wasn't. The sound came again, and louder now. It was definitely the sound of crying, the sound of a woman crying.

Anna took a shuddering breath. It had to be Elsa. There was no other woman living next door. Hans had gone out for the evening, and it certainly wasn't a child's cries that Anna could hear, so it couldn't be Kai. Though any child in the apartment would surely wake up if he heard his mother crying like that.

_Why though? Why would Elsa be crying? She seemed angry earlier, but not… tearful._ The noise continued and Anna could feel it slowly breaking her heart. _Don't be so dramatic, Anna. It's not breaking your heart. It's just not a nice thing to hear. _It really wasn't. The sobs sounded dreadful, hopeless. Anna could practically hear those noises wracking the chest of the woman that made them. But what could she do? Go and knock on the door? And say what? "I can hear you crying, do you want a hug?" It was ridiculous. _She doesn't even like hugs, apparently._

Nevertheless, the noise continued and Anna was helpless to resist. She quietly left her room, and made her way through her apartment to the door. It was like she had lost control of her feet, they continued to move without her consent. She had no idea what she'd do if Elsa answered the door, what she could possibly say to the woman.

Anna reached the hallway and, though no longer able to hear the cries, she continued until she reached the door of number seven.

_Go on then, you made it this far, you may as well knock…. Knock. Anna, knock. Why aren't you knocking? Have you forgotten how to knock? _Anna struggled at the door, unsure of how to proceed.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Anna's hand had decided for her. She waited. There was no answer.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Nothing.

"Elsa?" Anna called through the door. "Are you alright?" She asked cautiously. Elsa would certainly be able to hear her. If Anna could hear footsteps on the hall outside her own door, Elsa could definitely hear someone calling her.

"Elsa? I know you're in there…" Anna tried again. "It's just me, it's Anna…" She waited for a few minutes, but no response came. It was clear that Elsa did not want any help from her friendly neighbourhood eavesdropper.

Feeling more helpless than ever, Anna wandered back along to her own apartment and entered. She shut her laptop on the way past, dropped her ice cream bowl into the sink with a clunk, and returned to her bedroom.

Anna listened for a few moments, but no noise came. Elsa had stopped crying. Or rather, she knew that Anna must be able to hear her, and was now crying silently. Either way, Anna kept on listening for a while. She wasn't aware of when she stopped listening, but at some point, some time later, Anna must have fallen asleep.


	4. Chapter 4

**The Chance to Fly, Chapter Four**

**A.N: Well, you're in luck! I am managing to keep two chapters ahead of you guys, so here is another one for you. I hope you enjoy it, let me know!**

* * *

Anna was back at work following her not-so-relaxing night off that had in fact become altogether one of the most confusing evenings she had had in a long time. Tonight, the place was not quiet. The regulars were all in, manning their preferred spots along the bar, and suspiciously eyeing any newbie who thought they could take up one of the leather-topped stools. Anna had been in for a couple of hours now, and with it being one of the busier nights of the week, with a band playing later, Anna had the company of fellow member of bar staff, Magnus.

Magnus was a big guy, he stood nearly two feet taller than Anna, towering over her behind the bar. He was not only tall, but also rather muscular with hugely broad shoulders. He was, however, a total gentle giant. His hair was a sort of dull brown colour, it always looked like it could do with a trim, and his chin often sported several-day stubble. He was a good friend of Anna's and they always had a good time when they had shifts together. The atmosphere in the place was buzzing, general chatter and clinking of glasses filled the bar, and on the stage at the back a young local band was setting up their equipment and instruments. This was Anna's favourite kind of evening at Oaken's, there was a real sense of community in the place. She supposed, there was that feeling most nights really. Oaken's wasn't the sort of place where trouble often kicked off. Thankfully. Anna wasn't sure she'd be the right person to have to break up any fights. Though Magnus was certainly large enough to step in. The worst Anna ever had to contend with was a customer who had had a few too many drinks, or perhaps the odd ass-pinch from a particularly sleazy patron. But that wasn't a regular occurrence. Usually, the only interest she sparked in the customers manifested itself in little comments and, if she was being honest, those didn't bother her too much. Plus, there was an upside to having regulars who were mainly of the male persuasion; that little gang of guys knew Anna pretty well, they often chatted with her and kept her entertained on the quieter nights, they had developed protective feelings over her, sometimes they were downright fatherly towards her. Any hassle from 'outsiders' would be quickly noted and interrupted by one or other of the regulars. _They're kind of like my little guardian angels, _Anna thought, _my boozy, bearded guardian angels._ The thought had Anna smiling as she pulled another pint for one her favourite regulars.

It had been a few days since Anna had overheard Elsa crying through her bedroom wall. Anna had not seen her since, and she not heard anything else either. The whole episode had been so strange that Anna was beginning to wonder if it had happened at all. Maybe she had imagined the noises. Maybe it had been a dream. Maybe she had eaten too much ice cream and gone into some sort of sugar-fuelled hallucination… For the most part, Anna had put the incident out of her mind. She had been working extra-hard to ignore the somewhat overwhelming feelings that arisen out of nowhere for the blonde woman she barely knew. _Besides, she almost completely ignored you the last time you saw her_ Anna reminded herself. Over the past couple of days, her feelings of confusion and, in all honestly, faint arousal at Elsa's behaviour when she had interrupted Hans' and Anna's conversation in the hall, had given way to slight resentment for the blonde. Anna hadn't been doing anything wrong. If Elsa was annoyed at her husband for some reason, there had been no need to take it out on Anna. _She didn't really take it out on you Anna… _But she had ignored the redhead after she initially noticed her. _She didn't even say goodbye… It was quite rude._ And so Anna was easing her awkward feelings for Elsa by concentrating on the woman's apparent flaws instead. It sort of helped. Sometimes.

"Anna, I just need to go down to the cellar and change a barrel. You alright up here?" It was Magnus.

"Yeah, yeah. That's fine, Mag." Anna replied. Just as Anna turned back to the bar, she heard another voice calling her name.

"Anna! Hey neighbour! Fancy seeing you here!" Standing in front of Anna was Hans, his almost perpetual smile in place as usual.

"Ah! You came to check out Oaken's then? How's it going, Hans?" Anna asked, discovering that she too was wearing a smile now.

"I did indeed! It looks great, and it seems you're going to have some live music for us later too?" Hans said, looking appreciatively at the room around him.

"Yeah, they're a local band. The Frozen Fjords. Pretty good actually, they're kind of folk-y." Anna explained looking over to the stage at the back where it seemed that the band themselves were nearly ready.

"Sounds good. So how are you, Anna?" Hans said, once again genuinely interested to hear about the redhead.

Anna, for a split second, considered asking Hans about Elsa. About why she might have been crying the other night. _No, Anna. Don't do that, that would be totally weird and inappropriate._ She stopped herself just in time.

"Yeah, all good, thanks Hans. My brother is still away so I'm enjoying having the apartment to myself!" Anna said, over elaborating to cover up her momentary hesitation.

"Glad to hear it! I guess I better order some drinks then." Hans stated, studying the chalkboard behind the bar and considering the row of beer pumps. Anna looked around and noticed that Hans had entered the bar with a small group. The group was noticeably made up of couples, and noticeably lacking one Elsa. Hans reeled off a list of orders he had obviously collected in advance from his party.

"And I'll have… whatever you recommend." Hans finished. Anna nodded and set to work gathering everything on the list of beverages.

"No Elsa tonight?" She asked and she poured a measure of vodka into a glass. That time she hadn't been able to stop herself. Hans looked behind him, as if checking that Anna's observation was correct. He turned back to her and shrugged.

"She was going to come. It was just dinner with some friends from the office and their partners, then I thought we could continue the evening with a drink and music in here. And visit my favourite neighbour, of course! But Kai hasn't been all that well, so Elsa stayed home. I swear, she loves that thing more than she loves me!"

At Hans' final sentence, the bottle of vodka slipped slightly in Anna's grasp and the bar ended up receiving a splash of the stuff across its gleaming wooden surface. Then, from the back of the room, came the first strum of a chord from the band, which was greeted by cheers from the rest of Oaken's. Any further conversation was henceforth impossible. Anna finished up Hans order and placed the drinks onto a tin tray for him to carry back to his group.

_That thing?!_ Anna thought as she watched Hans' weave his way through the tables to his own. _Who speaks about his own child like that? Those two get weirder and weirder. _

The rest of the evening rolled by quite quickly, the band got a good reception and the merry atmosphere continued into the night. Hans' returned later to chat again with Anna, and was his usual funny and charming self. Anna was beginning to find that she enjoyed her talks with Hans. _Maybe I misheard him earlier, 'thing' could sound a lot like 'kid', and it is noisy in here… _Anna reasoned with herself. _That makes much more sense._

By the time the band had finished their set, and closing time had come around, Hans had said goodbye to the rest of his group and was still leaning up against the bar, talking with Anna. He was good company, and she was glad to let him stay as she wiped down the surfaces. He even went around the room picking up chairs and placing them onto the tables so that the floor could be cleaned in the morning.

"I'm glad I came in tonight," Hans called from the other side of the bar, as he lifted the last chairs.

"It's been good to have you here!" Anna replied from where she was wringing out a cloth into the sink.

"It's a shame Elsa wouldn't come. She would have enjoyed it, I think. And it would be good for her to socialise a bit more. I think you and her could be good friends." Hans said. Anna dropped the nearly dry cloth back into the wet sink.

"Yeah?" She replied, uncertainly.

"Yeah, it would help her to settle in better. She's found the move quite difficult. An apartment block is not quite what she's been used to." Hans elaborated, before adding, "There! All done." He put the final chair onto the table.

Anna did not respond. The subject of Elsa often made her overthink her replies to the point of not knowing what to say at all.

"Ready?" Hans asked.

"Ready." Anna agreed. They exited the bar and Hans waited whilst Anna locked up. She pulled her hat from her jacket pocket and slipped it on, pulling it down over the tops of her plaits. Hans smiled.

"You look very snug!" He said, holding out an elbow to Anna in a gentlemanly fashion. Anna, though she didn't quite know why she felt comfortable enough to do so, slipped her arm through his. There wasn't a flirtation between them. If anything, Anna was beginning to think that herself and Hans could be very good friends. They walked together the short distance down the street, into the apartment block and up the stairs, before saying their goodbyes outside the door of Anna's apartment.

* * *

The following morning, Anna was once again up before 11am. _This is become a habit… Maybe you're turning over a new leaf._ She was dressed in her usual tight jeans, black, and, because it was definitely getting colder, she had topped it off with a green hooded sweater. The redhead had ventured downstairs to the mailboxes and was rifling through the various envelopes she had found within.

_Bills, bills, something for Kristoff, catalogue for me, bills, bills, Elsa Anderson, something for Kristoff._

_Wait. _

_Elsa Anderson?_

Anna looked again at the brown envelope in her hand. _Yep, definitely says Elsa Anderson._ _Weird._ Anna trotted back up the stairs, deposited her own mail on the counter in her apartment and then headed back out the door. She stood in front of apartment number seven and knocked. Almost the minute she had done it she was reminded of two things; firstly, the last time she had been knocking on this very door, and secondly, that icy glare that Elsa had pulled on Hans a few days earlier. _Oh, Anna. I don't think you thought this through. Is it too late to run back down the hall? _Anna had just looked behind her to the safety of her own door, deliberating making a run for it, when the door in front of her opened.

Inside stood Elsa herself. Anna gulped. Elsa looked… wonderful. She was in a simple white T-shirt - _that's brave with this chill - _and her blue jeans that nestled against her skin the same way they always did. Her hair was not hanging loose around her shoulders this time though. Today it was up, worked into an intricate plait that wrapped itself around her head in a formation that Anna could not begin to imagine being able to construct. A couple of stray tendrils hung down and brushed the taller woman's visible collarbones. Anna had never found herself particularly attracted to collarbones in the past. In an instant though, that had changed. Anna could not tear her eyes away from the vision before her.

"Anna?" Elsa asked, breaking Anna from her haze.

_You haven't said anything. You knocked on her door and then didn't say anything. You're just staring at her. Speak Anna! Say anything!_

"I… Uh…" Anna stuttered, blind panic stealing her words.

"Are you alright?" Elsa spoke, concern lacing her words.

"Yes." Said Anna.

_Great. A word. Now continue…_

"This was in my mailbox. I think it's for you, they got your name wrong though." Anna said at last, flooded with relief that she had regained control of her senses. She handed the envelope to Elsa, brushing her fingers accidentally and feeling heat rush up the back of her neck at the contact. Elsa seemed unfazed by it. She looked down at the envelope in her hands.

"No, that's right." She murmured, turning the envelope over.

"But, Christian!" Anna burst out. Elsa looked up at her in surprise.

"On the buzzer. Your name is Christian." Anna explained, as if somehow Elsa may be unaware of her own surname.

"No, that's Hans." The blonde clarified. "I'm Anderson." She continued. "Elsa Anderson." The final words were said in almost a whisper.

"You're not married?" Anna ventured, hardly daring to hope for a certain answer.

"Hans and I? No. We're not married." Elsa said, her tone very matter of fact. Anna couldn't help herself, a wide grin spread across lips, and she couldn't wipe it away for all she was worth. Elsa looked up at her again.

"Are you sure you're alright, Anna?" she asked, curiously.

"Yes, I'm great. Just… great!" Anna nodded at her.

"Right, well, do you want to come in? Have that coffee you mentioned? You know, or tea, maybe you prefer tea. Or there's cold drinks. I probably have cold drinks."

Elsa was teasing her. She was throwing Anna's awkward wording back at her. She had remembered exactly what Anna had said, even though it was said days ago. Elsa was smiling at Anna, her eyes were kind again, calm again.

"Yes." That was all Anna could manage. Elsa turned back into the apartment and held the door open for Anna to follow her in.

"I wanted to apologise for the other night." Elsa was saying as she led Anna towards the kitchen. Anna stopped, was Elsa about to bring up the crying incident?

"Out in the hall, with Hans. I was rude. I'm sorry." Elsa finished. No. She was not about to bring up the crying incident. Anna felt quite relieved about that.

"Oh, it was fine. We all have our off days, right?" Anna tried to placate the blonde who was looking a bit troubled.

"I can't imagine that you do." Elsa said quietly. Anna let out a loud laugh.

"Of course I do! God, sometimes in the morning… You should see me in the mornings—I mean, not that you should be with me in the mornings… I… Uh… I'm just… not a morning person." Anna had turned almost as red as her hair. _What was that? God, Anna, why do you do it?_ Elsa's eyes had widened at Anna's words, but they remained warm. She laughed quietly. _That sound…_

"Well, you work late." Elsa reasoned. "Now, coffee? Tea? Hot chocolate?" the blonde asked, turning to peruse a cupboard behind her. Anna was more than thankful for the change of topic.

"Hot chocolate! I mean, hot chocolate, please." Anna said, hopelessly trying to rid herself of the stubborn blush on her cheeks. Elsa nodded. She pulled a box of unopened hot chocolate powder from the cupboard and set to work on the drinks.

While Elsa busied herself preparing the drinks, Anna took the time to look around the apartment. She had never been inside number seven before. The layout was similar to that of her own, only slightly bigger. The kitchen joined onto the living room where walls were freshly painted cream, one wall covered from floor to ceiling with filled bookshelves. There was a large, and very comfy looking, blue corner couch in the living room, and in the corner a small table supporting a record player, a stack of vinyl, and some fresh flowers. Dotted around were framed photographs, most in black and white, but none near enough for Anna to be able to tell what the pictures showed. In the kitchen the counters and cupboards were bare wood and the walls covered with pale blue tiles. Anna felt very comfortable here. It was a very calm space. She turned back to look at Elsa who had her back to where Anna was perching on a barstool at the counter that separated the kitchen and living room. Anna watched her for a while, studying the slight muscle movements in her arms as she lifted two mugs down from a shelf. Then Anna's attention moved lower to a certain part of Elsa's anatomy that was currently being hugged very tightly by her jeans. Anna cleared her throat and averted her eyes.

"So, how's Kai?" Anna asked, hoping the break the silence.

"Sorry?" Elsa said, looking over her shoulder at Anna.

"Kai. Hans said he was feeling poorly the other night. Kids can be a nightmare when they're sick, right? I mean, I don't know, I don't have a kid. Not that I don't like them, I just… don't have one." Anna was rambling once more.

"Kids?" Elsa looked truly puzzled now. "Anna, what are you talking about?" She asked.

"Hans said you didn't come out the other night because Kai was sick." Anna stated slowly, Elsa's puzzlement now beginning to affect her too.

"Kai was sick…" Elsa agreed, her blue eyes tracing over Anna's face as if looking for some sort of clue as to what was going on.

"Right. That's what I said." Anna nodded. Elsa's eyebrows knitted together. "Your son was sick, so you didn't come to the bar." Anna explained, as if Elsa was in someway mentally impaired.

"My son?"

There was a moment of silence and then the lines that had formed on Elsa's forehead abated and a look of understanding flashed across her features.

"Anna, Kai is my cat." Elsa stated firmly, shaking her head in disbelief at Anna. Anna simply stared at her.

"Your cat." Anna muttered. "Kai is your cat."

And then, as if by some kind of magic – or more likely just because he had heard his name so many times – a large black cat slinked its way into the kitchen, and swirled itself around Elsa's legs. It looked up at Anna, inspecting this new visitor closely, and then closed a singular green eye momentarily in a slow wink.

"Your cat!" Anna nearly shouted, realisation spread like fire throughout her. "You don't have a kid at all! Oh thank God!" Anna continued, losing all semblance of a filter between brain and mouth.

"Thank God?" Elsa asked, stooping to pick up the cat, that promptly settled itself in her arms and began to purr loudly. "You didn't want me to have a child?"

"No! I mean, of course not. What difference does it make to me if you have a child?" Anna quickly realised her mistake and tried to cover it up.

"But you don't have a child. You have a cat." Anna reiterated a slow smile spreading across her lips.

"Clearly." Said Elsa, stroking the large pet in her arms. She looked at Anna intently, registering the blush that had remained from moments earlier. Anna could have been mistaken, but she was sure there was a glimmer of comprehension in those arctic pools. Anna gulped. _I think she may be on to you, Anna…_

"So," Elsa started, returning Kai to the kitchen floor, "Hot chocolate for you," she said, placing a steaming mug on the counter in front of Anna, "And peppermint tea for me." She finished, smiling at Anna.


	5. Chapter 5

**The Chance to Fly, Chapter Five**

**A.N: Finally, I am two chapters ahead again. So here's number five for you guys. I hope you enjoy it. I love hearing what you think, so if you feel like leaving a review then please do! **

* * *

The hot chocolate was the best Anna had ever tasted, and she'd tasted quite a lot of hot chocolate in her time. In fact, she considered herself quite the hot chocolate connoisseur, and this mug was taking first prize. Anna told Elsa as much.

"It's just powdered chocolate and hot milk." Elsa said in response to Anna's high praise.

"You must have, like, magic hands or something then because seriously… this is really good." Anna assured her. The blonde sighed, defeated. Who was she to question Anna's taste in hot chocolate?

"How old are you, Anna?" Elsa asked suddenly. Anna was taken off guard for a minute. "Sorry, that was rude. I just wondered though, because I have… no idea how old you are." Elsa continued.

"23." Anna answered simply, still sipping from her mug of hot chocolate happily, "Nearly 24." She clarified. "How old are _you_?"

"28. Just." Elsa replied.

"Not that much of an age gap then." Said Anna. "I mean, not that that's relevant or anything." She finished. Elsa nodded thoughtfully.

"It's my birthday in a few weeks," Anna continued, "I'm probably going to have some sort of party at Oaken's. You should come!"

"Oh, I…" Elsa started, but she was interrupted.

"I think you'll like Oaken's. I mean, you like music, obviously." Anna nodded towards the record player and stack of vinyl in the living room. Her gaze continued to the bookshelves and then she continued, "And books. You clearly like books _a lot_. Have you read all of those?"

"Most of them," Elsa replied, "Some of them I've read twice, you know, comfort reads." She explained.

"Chocolate is my comfort. Yours is a much healthier option." Anna said, mulling Elsa's words over. Elsa laughed, for the majority of their time together that morning Elsa had had a smile on her face. It was a quiet smile, but Anna relished the realisation that the smile even reached her eyes.

The two were sitting opposite each other at the counter, perched atop matching barstools. Anna had her elbows resting on the counter top whilst Elsa alternated between wrapping her arms around her own waist and periodically picking up her mug of tea and blowing on it to cool it down. At her feet, Kai sat cleaning himself. Anna couldn't help but liken the seating arrangement to that of a date and, considering the conversation topic, a first date at that.

_Stop it Anna, this is not a date. It's nothing like a date. It's just two new neighbours getting to know each other a bit better… two unmarried neighbours, with no children, getting to know each other better. _Anna thought, a sly smile tugging at her lips. _No. Anna. Stop. Just because her and Hans are not married, just because Kai happens to be a cat and not a child, it does not make Elsa suddenly available. Or suddenly interested in women either for that matter. She lives with a man, she's in a relationship with a man, that usually implies that someone is interested in men. _Anna's lips won out, and no smile appeared. Instead the edges began to tilt downwards as she realised the truth in her thoughts.

"Have I lost you there?" Elsa voice cut through Anna's contemplations, and beneath the table, Elsa's foot reached across to nudge Anna's leg gently.

"Anna? Are you alright?" Elsa pushed.

_You've gone all silent on her again. Say something._

"Fine. So… what is it that you do, Elsa? You're at home at… 11.30am on a Friday, so…" Anna asked the first question that came to her mind, then followed it up with a comment she realised too late was kind of insulting. Thankfully, Elsa laughed. Again. _God I love making her laugh_.

"You make a very good point." Elsa conceded, "And the honest answer is nothing. Right now I'm doing nothing. By trade, I'm a writer. I write for environmental journals. But currently… not so much. Luckily, I have some inheritance funds to fall back on. Well, not luckily. Lucky is exactly what I'm not…" Elsa's voice trailed away and the sparkle deadened in her eyes. For what felt like a long time, Elsa gazed into her near-empty mug.

"You must be crazy smart." Anna noted, trying to retrieve Elsa from wherever she had just gone to. And it worked. Light was dancing in Elsa's eyes again; she looked at Anna with what could almost be described as fondness.

"You're very sweet." She said softly. Anna shrugged.

_Sweet? She thinks I'm sweet? Sweet is what you call a kid when it brings you a picture that just looks like blobs and swirls. _Anna thought dejectedly. _But still… she thinks I'm sweet_. Anna smiled. She'd take it. Sweet was better than nothing.

At that moment, Kai finished cleaning himself by Elsa's feet and decided to leap up into her lap. As an instinctual movement, Elsa rested her feet on the wooden bar beneath the counter, flattening her lap so that Kai could curl up there. Which he swiftly did, letting out a yawn that showed a pair of long fangs before resting his head against Elsa's abdomen.

_What I wouldn't give to be able to curl up in Elsa's lap_, thought Anna. _That is one lucky feline. _

"Are you originally from here, Anna?" Elsa asked, her hand idly smoothing Kai's black fur as he began purring softly.

_Yeah, I'd purr too_, came Anna's internal voice.

"Uh… No. I moved here after college, just felt like a change. I come from a small town a couple of hours drive away called Arendelle." Anna told Elsa.

"Arendelle. I've been there!" Elsa exclaimed, more excited than Anna had ever heard anyone be about Arendelle. "It's at the foot of the grey mountains, right? My father used to take me there when I first learnt to ski." Elsa continued.

"No way! That's cool. Arendelle is great for snow sports." Anna agreed, nodding at the recollection of her hometown.

"I'd love the chance to do that again." Elsa said quietly.

"You should come! My mom is still there, I often go back to see her." Anna said, her eyes lighting up at the thought of taking Elsa to Arendelle. They could ski together, have snow fights, drink hot chocolate by the fire… _Wait. Did you just invite Elsa to meet your mom? Shit. _

"That sounds… lovely." Elsa replied, surprising Anna completely. _Oh wow, OK._ "What about your dad? He's not in Arendelle?" Elsa asked before realising that the question was perhaps a little too personal under the circumstances.

"Oh, no. I don't really know where he is. I mean, I've met him a couple of times, but he's never really been a dad, more of a distant father figure. I was raised by my mum. She's great." Anna explained, her tone very matter of fact. Elsa instantly regretted her question but was relieved that Anna seemed to take it in her stride.

"It's fine. I can't imagine growing up _with_ a dad. Well, I have a big brother, he can be like a dad sometimes… Do you have siblings?" Anna cut across her own ramblings to ask the question that had just occurred to her. Her and Kristoff were so close that she couldn't imagine not having someone like him in her life.

"No. Only child." Elsa stated plainly.

"Woah. What's that like? Don't you get lonely?" Anna wondered her question aloud. Elsa let out another of those laughs that were music to Anna's ears.

"No, not really. Maybe that's why I read so much." Elsa replied, voicing the final part as if it was only just occurring to her.

"Maybe that's why I barely read at all!" Anna countered happily. Elsa chuckled.

Anna spent almost two hours at Hans' and Elsa's apartment, just talking with the blonde. She felt that she had learnt a lot about the taller woman. Before today she had known next to nothing about Elsa; now she knew her age, her occupation, that she was an only child, that her eyes had flecks of darker blue interspersed with the lighter shade, that her laughter sounded like sleigh bells, that she had incredibly soft looking skin on her surprisingly toned arms, that Anna wanted nothing more than to kiss those tempting collarbones. _What?! Oh Anna… Why do you do this to yourself? _

Eventually, Anna realised that she couldn't just stay at the blonde's apartment indefinitely, even if Elsa did show no sign of wanting Anna to leave.

"Well, I better head off," Anna started, "Work tonight. Friday nights are always mad ones at Oaken's," She explained.

"Alright." Said Elsa, persuading Kai from her lap and then stretching out one long leg after the other before standing up. Anna's breath caught in her throat. "It's been nice. We should do this again, Anna." Elsa said, smiling that warm smile at Anna, the one that melted her insides.

"Absolutely. Anytime. I'm just next door!" Anna replied chirpily. _She knows you live next door. Don't state the obvious, Anna_. For a split second Anna saw something different flash across Elsa's features, something that looked a lot like regret.

_She's just remembered the time you overheard her crying. Shit._

Elsa's face returned to its happier demeanour quickly and she followed Anna to the door.

"Right, well, bye then Elsa, thanks for the hot chocolate!" Anna said, about to turn towards the door. But she was stopped in her movement though as a slender pair of arms reached out towards her.

Anna froze. She watched as those arms got nearer before they wrapped themselves comfortably around her shoulders and pulled her in until her body was flush with Elsa's. Anna stopped breathing completely. Her own arms moved without her telling them to and enveloped Elsa's waist, settling above the taller woman's hips. Anna could smell Elsa's hair, she was breathing again, and now she was breathing in the scent that was, by definition, Elsa. It was like freshly washed laundry and something else… Something that Anna couldn't quite put her finger on.

"I thought you didn't like hugs." Anna squeaked. Elsa's arms stiffened around her shoulders.

"What?" the taller woman asked.

"With Olaf. Hans said you didn't like hugs, that you were the Snow—" Elsa squeezed Anna slightly and cut off her sentence in its tracks.

"Hugs from Olaf, a man I have never met, are weird. Hugs with you are… fine." Elsa stated, pulling back and looking directly into Anna's hazel green eyes, now widened in surprise.

Elsa's hands had remained at Anna's shoulders, now they slid down the tops of her arms slowly and then returned to wrap around the blonde's own waist protectively.

"Have a good shift tonight, Anna." Elsa said quietly, moving around Anna to open the door.

"Right. Yeah. Uh… Have a good… bye Elsa." Anna replied. She took her cue and exited the door. She nodded awkwardly at Elsa and then turned to make her way back down the hall to her own apartment.

'_Hugs with you are fine.' _Anna didn't stop smiling for the rest of the afternoon.

* * *

Anna's good mood lasted all day and well into the night. Once she had returned to her apartment she had begun to slowly get ready for work. All through her shower, the application of her make-up and her decisions over an outfit for the evening, all she could think about was her morning with Elsa.

When Anna had spied that misplaced envelope in her mail box, the last thing she was expecting was for it to result in one of the best mornings she'd had in a long time, for it to prompt one of the happiest, warmest feelings that she could remember.

_That really was the best hot chocolate ever… Forget about the hot chocolate, Anna, she hugged you! She actually hugged you, by choice, unprompted… and she called you sweet._

Anna looked at herself in the mirror, blusher brush midway to her cheekbone. The look on her own face took her somewhat by surprise. She looked… ecstatic. When she thought about it, the fact that Anna had discovered that Elsa was in fact neither married, nor a mother, wasn't what had prompted her good mood. Sure, those facts did decrease the feeling of guilt that had settled like a rock in her stomach well over a week ago. But Elsa was still in a committed relationship, she was living with someone; that fact tends to imply that someone is quite dedicated to the other person. And Hans is great. Anna couldn't fault the guy. Perhaps that was the reason that though the rock of guilt in her stomach had diminished a bit, it still rolled around in there, more like a pebble now. She was still attracted to Elsa, probably more so than ever. Anna's good mood was, quite simply, the direct result of her easy-going, completely comfortable, conversations with the beautiful woman next door. How could a morning spent in Elsa's calming presence leave anyone feeling anything other than content? Anna didn't think it could.

Elsa's slender fingers gripping her mug of steaming tea, her eyes – complete with a playful glint – watching Anna from over the top. Anna had persistent flashes of her favourite moments from the morning, and with each one, her heart felt lighter.

* * *

Friday night, as Anna had told Elsa, was always a fun one at Oaken's. The live music was often a little more raucous those nights. Everyone who came in was celebrating the end of the working week, and although it was really only the beginning for the bar staff, they too chose Friday nights to let loose a bit. On this particular Friday, Anna was working with Magnus again, and Oaken himself was in as well, helping out behind the bar in moments when the customers were piling up the other side.

Oaken could be described as nothing other than jolly. Anna had never seen him in a bad mood. He was quite a rotund figure, with bushy gingery sideburns that joined to form a moustache under his wide nose. He spoke with a hint of an accent that gave away his Scandinavian background, and could frequently be seen sporting loudly colourful sweaters. The sound of Oaken's booming laugh never failed to improve the atmosphere of the bar, and Anna and Magnus were, without a doubt, the namesake's favourite members of staff.

All in all, the three of them were having a great time behind the bar. The space they had to manoeuvre in wasn't all that large, so a lot of the evening was spent ducking and diving to avoid each other, spinning around expertly without spilling a single drop of anyone's drinks. When the time came for Anna to take a break, Magnus and Oaken – both big guys – grabbed hold of one of Anna's arms each and lifted the spritely redhead clean over the bar, depositing her gently the other side. That display of teamwork raised cheers from those who caught sight of it, and Anna, always one to please a crowd, took a small bow.

The band playing that night had been great – The Fractals – and Anna had a new freebie T-shirt to add to her extensive collection. They had played a few covers along with their own stuff and had the whole place singing along on more than one occasion. It was nights like these that Anna loved the most. By the time the band left the stage and the customers were beginning to wend their way home, the general feeling in the place was still one of merriment. Eventually there were only a few regulars left at the bar and a couple of Magnus' friends who had come in to see him, along with Oaken's partner Sven. The proprietor pulled the curtains on the small front windows and closed the large wooden door. Shutting the bar to any wanderers looking for a final drink of the night.

"Ooh Hoo!" Oaken called, wiggling his chubby fingers in the air and making his way to the stage, turning the footlights back on. He pointed at Anna and Magnus who were now perched on the bar top, their feet swinging. "Your turn!" He said with a slightly crazed smile.

This had been tradition for as long as Anna had worked at Oaken's. Friday night, when the bar was empty save for a few special guests, the leftovers would take to the stage and perform Oaken's own brand of karaoke. The staff, along with Oaken and Sven, any of the regulars who had chosen to loiter, and any other hangers on, would take it in turns to grace the stage, grab a mic, and belt out just about anything they pleased. Not everyone had the best singing voices, but most would give it a shot anyway, and hilarity always won out in the end.

It was nearing two a.m. now and Anna had had more than one turn on the stage, the night was beginning wind down and what had been various upbeat karaoke tracks was now becoming slower numbers. Magnus grabbed Anna's hand and pulled her up from the chair where she had been seated, she only just had time to place her bottle of beer on a nearby table before she was picked up and thrown over the big guy's shoulder.

"Duet time!" Magnus cried as he plonked Anna down on the stage and took his place next to her. Oaken cued a well known duet number for them on the karaoke machine and as the first strains of the song emanated from the speakers Anna let out a laugh of recognition and wrapped an arm around Magnus' thick waist. She gazed up into his stubbly face and batted her eyelashes comically.

They each took their appropriate lines of the song and played around, pretending to be a loving couple. Their singing was interspersed with much laughter from both themselves and the watching – and quite drunken – gaggle that was dotted about the room. Magnus, for all his enthusiasm, was not the best singer and could only just about carry the tune. Anna, on the other hand, was pretty good. It took a bit of Dutch courage to get her onto the stage, but once there she didn't tend to hold back, her voice met every note dead on and carried well around the room.

As Anna and Magnus continued their playfully loved up number, neither noticed, or heard, as the large wooden front door creaked open and a blonde headed visitor snuck into the room, motioning for the 'audience' not to draw any attention. The blonde stood towards the back of the room, in the shadows and out of sight of the two members of staff flirting and crooning at each other in jest on the stage.

As the song came to a close and the final note was held until both Anna and Magnus ran out of breath, the larger of the two swept the redhead up into his arms and planted a wet kiss on her mouth, holding her tight to himself until she began to struggle a bit. Magnus placed Anna back on the ground and ruffled her hair. Anna's giggles were infectious and the both of them fell about laughing.

That was the moment that the recently arrived blonde stepped out of the shadows. Anna looked up, immediately clocking the newcomer. Her eyebrows shot up into her hairline and she leapt from the small stage, taking a running jump into the arms of the blonde.

"Kristoff!" Anna shouted in pure glee. "You're back!" She cried.

Kristoff caught Anna just as she collided with his chest and swung her around a bit, his low chuckles reverberating in the chest that Anna now leaned her head against.

"Hey feisty pants, glad to be home." He said into her hair and squeezed her tighter to himself.


	6. Chapter 6

**The Chance to Fly, Chapter Six**

**A.N: Hi everyone, just a quick note to say two things: Firstly, several of you seem to think you have cracked what's going on with Hans and Elsa, I hope this chapter clears that up a bit for you... (I'm not always messing with you!) And secondly, one reviewer in particular cannot get past Elsa's crying incident. It will be explained at some stage. I promise! Patience is a virtue and all that...**

**Now, on with the story! Let me know if you're enjoying it still.**

* * *

The morning following Kristoff's return, Anna slept until noon. Kristoff had been up hours earlier unpacking his luggage and reacquainting himself with the apartment. He opened various cupboards in the kitchen and braved a glance into the fridge. He found, unsurprisingly, that there was not a huge amount to eat anywhere. The freezer, of course, contained a bounty of ice cream, and atop one of the cupboards was an array of cereal boxes, most already opened and half-consumed. Kristoff smiled to himself. His sister, for all her attempts, was not overly comfortable in the kitchen. She often visited the shops and stocked up on all the necessary items and then ate her way through them until there was barely anything left before considering that she may need to make another grocery list.

With that thought in mind, Kristoff pulled a chair from the table and sat down, he began to scribble down a long list of everything that the two of them would need for the following week. Once satisfied that he had covered all the bases, he stood once more, had a quick look into Anna's room where the bundled shape beneath her duvet, and the quiet snores, suggested that she was still sleeping soundly. Kristoff slipped out of the front door, closing it quietly behind him. Out in the hallway, he whistled happily as he made his way along the hall and down the stairs. It really was nice to be home.

* * *

In apartment number seven, Elsa and Hans were having breakfast. They were seated at the same counter where Elsa and Anna had been the day before. Elsa, yet another cup of tea before her, read the paper quietly, whilst Hans slathered a piece of toast with butter and considered the blonde before him.

"Did you see Anna yesterday?" He asked, a note of interest in his voice.

"I did." Elsa confirmed, not looking up from her paper.

"She's awesome. Don't you think?" Hans continued eagerly.

"She seems nice enough." Elsa agreed, still not looking at Hans, though her eyes stopped scanning the pages of the paper.

"I think we should have her over for dinner. What do you reckon?" Hans pushed.

Elsa made no verbal response this time. Hans waited a couple of seconds.

"Babe?" He prompted.

"OK." Elsa replied finally.

"Great! I'll cook. You should go ask her after breakfast." Hans directed. Now, Elsa put the paper down on the counter and looked up at the smiling man across from her.

"Or you could." She suggested.

"I have to go shopping for ingredients." Hans countered, as if he had the response prepared before Elsa even spoke. "You just said you like Anna. You should go invite her over for dinner. I reckon you guys could be good friends." Hans continued.

"Hans…" Elsa said, a level of warning permeating her soft voice.

"What? I'm just saying, I think she'd be good company for you, babe. She's funny, she's very easy-going. I just think you need—" Hans was interrupted.

"I don't _need_ anything. I'm fine, Hans." Elsa snapped. The enthusiastic gleam in Hans' eyes vanished immediately.

"You're right. I'm sorry." Hans conceded. His eyes darting across Elsa's features. "You know I just care you, Elsa. I love you. You know that, right?" Hans murmured apologetically, his voice rising in hopefulness at the end of his sentence.

"I know. I… I'm sorry." Elsa sighed. She rose from her seat and rounded the counter to where Hans was seated. She wrapped an arm around his waist from behind and rested her cheek against his shoulder blade. "I'll go and ask Anna after breakfast." She said softly. He could feel her jaw moving against his back.

Hans twisted in his seat, and reached out for Elsa. She stepped back.

"Do you want more toast?" Elsa asked, busying herself with collecting plates from the counter and making her way into the kitchen, not looking at Hans.

"I… No thanks, babe." Hans said.

A short time later, Elsa had loaded the breakfast things into the dishwasher, wiped down the counter and was standing before the full-length mirror in her bedroom. She studied her own form critically. She was wearing a well-worn fitted denim shirt and a pair of black tight trousers that just brushed her ankles. Elsa threaded her slender fingers through her platinum blonde hair. Currently it was loose, hanging low down her back. She pulled it up into a messy-bun and considered it in the mirror. She sighed, frustrated, and ripped her hair down once more.

_I wonder if Anna prefers it up or down…_ She queried internally.

After several minutes, Elsa had grown tired of her own reflection and settled on a simple ponytail. She turned and left her room, closing the door behind her. She made her way through the apartment, noting the sound of the shower running in the bathroom where Hans currently was. She slipped on a pair of flat shoes, and opened the front door. She was just about to close it behind her when she heard a noise further down the hall, where Anna's apartment was. She stopped in her tracks, and stepped back into her own doorway, peering around the corner towards the noise she heard.

From the door of Anna's apartment, a tall, well built, man appeared. He had shaggy blond hair and was wearing a warm looking shearing jacket. Elsa froze, her heart clutching in her chest.

The blond guy pulled Anna's door closed quietly behind him, and sauntered off towards the stairs, whistling as he went. He was clearly pleased with himself.

Elsa hurried back into her apartment and shut the door behind it. She leant back against the closed door, and threw her head back, hitting the wood with a dull thump. Suddenly Elsa's stomach was twisting into a knot with an alien sensation, something she couldn't quite put her finger on. It did not feel good.

At that moment Hans appeared from the bathroom door, a towel wrapped around his waist, drops of water falling from his wet hair and streaming down his bare chest. Elsa hadn't noticed the noise of the water shutting off in the bathroom. She pushed herself off from the door quickly, her movement catching Hans' eye.

"So?" He said to Elsa, spotting her making her way in from the front door, "Is she coming?" he asked, shaking some of the water from his hair.

"She… There was no answer." Elsa lied. Hans nodded. He ventured towards Elsa and pulled her into himself. She allowed herself to be crushed against his chest.

"Not a problem. Just try again later, yeah?" He asked, fiddling with the end of Elsa's ponytail. She nodded against him. Hans brought a second hand up under her chin and lifted her face towards him. She allowed herself to be forced to look up at him.

"I'll cook something nice, it'll be a fun evening. I promise." He said, staring down into Elsa's eyes. She didn't reply. Hans leant down and planted a sweet kiss on Elsa's lips. When she didn't immediately respond, he pulled back slightly before moving back in and taking her bottom lip gently between his own. Elsa slipped away and offered Hans an apologetic smile. He reciprocated with a warm look of his own and tugged playfully on her ponytail before letting it go again, allowing it to swing against her back.

"I'm going to get dressed," he said, "Then I'll head to grocery store. Try Anna again in a while, OK? She's probably sleeping off her shift last night." He added, smiling encouragingly at Elsa.

Elsa nodded, though she suspected something other than her shift may have tired out the redhead down the hall. The knot in Elsa's stomach twisted tighter. She watched as Hans retreated to the bedroom. Once he was out of sight, Elsa glanced down at her shirt where there were now dark patches caused by the shower water from Hans. She smoothed down her shirt, and then wrung her hands together nervously.

Almost as if he had sensed his owner's distress, Kai stood from where he had been contentedly curled on the couch. He stretched and yawned, arching his back with a shudder before jumping delicately to the floor and sidling over to Elsa. He wound himself around her legs a couple of times and looked up at her, his green eyes wide.

Elsa stooped and picked up the cat, holding him close in her arms. She buried her face into the cat's warm black fur.

* * *

Anna awoke. Her head felt slightly fuzzy as she released a long yawn and shook it slightly. She sat up slowly and looked at the clock on her bedside table. Midday was definitely late enough. It was time to get up. Anna swung her legs over the side of the bed and let out a groan at the ache she felt in her muscles. Then, a thought occurred to the redhead, _Kristoff's home!_ With that, her hangover began to dissipate rapidly, it was no longer important. She leapt from her bed and scurried into her bathroom, brushing her hair through but leaving it down to save time, and shoving her toothbrush into her mouth.

Minutes later, Anna exited her room with a flurry, all but running towards the kitchen and skidding to a halt on the wooden floor. She looked around excitedly. There was no sign of Kristoff.

"Kristoff?" Anna called, turning back towards the living room, as if somehow she may have run straight past her brother without noticing him. There was no answer.

Anna felt a bit deflated. She had wanted to have breakfast – _lunch?_ – with her brother and hear more about his latest trip. She wanted to talk about everything they had missed in each other's lives. She wanted to tell him about Elsa. Well, not everything about Elsa. She wasn't, for example, intending to tell her brother that she had developed an all-consuming crush on the woman next door. Sure, Kristoff knew that Anna wasn't strictly into guys. He supported Anna in that sense, as did their mother. What Anna suspected that Kristoff would not be in favour of, however, was his little sister crushing on someone else's girlfriend.

Anna grabbed a bowl from a cupboard and filled it with the most chocolate infused cereal she had in her collection. She added some milk and then traipsed through the living room, slumping down on the couch.

The minute her ass hit the cushions, there was a brisk knock at the door. Anna sighed. With the lack of Kristoff, her hangover was creeping back. She now realised that simply brushing her hair had not completely rid it of bedhead, and whilst she had freshened her breath, she remained in the clothes she had slept in – one of Kristoff's old shirts and last night's underwear. Anna looked down at herself and shrugged. It was too late to do anything now. She lifted herself from the couch and went to answer the door.

* * *

On the other side of Anna's door, Elsa waited uncomfortably. She shifted from one foot to the other and twisted her hands together. She wished she hadn't promised Hans that she would do this. She wished that she hadn't seen that guy coming out of Anna's apartment earlier. She wished her reaction to the sight hadn't been so… troubling. But most of all she wished that Anna wouldn't answer the door.

This morning, it seemed, the gods were not on Elsa's side. None of her wishes were due to be granted as the door in front of her swung open. Elsa felt the air leave her lungs.

Before her, Anna stood like some sort of guilty fantasy. Her hair was messy, and yet remained adorable. She looked sleepy and a little confused. She wore an oversized shirt that almost, but not quite, disguised the fact that her lower half was covered only by a pair of light blue underwear. Her legs were bare, from her thighs right down to her ankles, where her feet were covered by a pair of thick grey socks that had slunk down slightly.

The knot in Elsa's stomach loosened. It was replaced by a sensation that could only be described as fluttering.

_No, Elsa. Why do you think she looks like that? She looks dishevelled and… sexy. Everything you're not. And it's a direct result of that guy you saw. That tall, bulky, man. Again, everything you're not. _Elsa chastised herself. It was something she was very used to doing.

At the memory of Anna's visitor, the flutters in Elsa's tummy froze and fell to the very pit of her tummy, forming a solid mass of ice, and remaining there.

_Get this over with, Elsa._

"Hans wants to invite you to dinner tonight." Elsa said robotically, averting her eyes from Anna, and instead looking just past her left ear.

* * *

When Anna had opened her door and seen Elsa standing the other side, she had immediately regretted her morning look. She ran a hand through her hair in some useless attempt to regain control of it, and then gave up. Elsa looked perfect as always. There was just no way to disguise that Anna herself was the vision of a hung-over disaster.

Anna was just about to greet her blonde neighbour when Elsa spoke.

"Hans wants to invite you to dinner tonight." She had said abruptly.

Anna was slightly taken aback, firstly by the emotionless way that Elsa had spoken and secondly by the curious way that Elsa was avoiding making eye contact with her. Anna's face was clouded by a look of confusion. She considered the proposition briefly before voicing her concern.

"Just Hans? You mean, you don't want to invite me to dinner tonight?" Anna said, punctuating a tone of humour into her words in an attempt to alleviate the obvious tension that Elsa was experiencing.

Finally, Elsa's eyes flashed a glance at Anna's face.

"No, I… Of course, I think you should come to dinner." Elsa stuttered before returning her gaze to where had been moments before.

"OK then…" Anna said slowly, the situation here was hurting her already throbbing head. She opened her mouth to speak again.

"See you at seven then." Elsa let out cutting Anna off before she had time to respond. Elsa had turned on her heel and was striding back down the hallway to her own apartment. Anna watched her leave. She was too confused to even appreciate the sight.

Anna went back to her now soggy mess of cereal. She dug her spoon in anyway and shovelled some of the gloop into her mouth.

_What the hell was that? Elsa seemed… upset. Upset with me. What have I done? _Anna mulled over the exchange that had just taken place, wracking her brain for something that could have caused Elsa to take offense.

_We had a good time yesterday. We got on well. I made her laugh. It was easy and comfortable. I haven't even seen her since then… _ Anna struggled with her thoughts. She looked down again at her 'outfit'. Maybe that was the problem. Elsa was always perfectly put together, her clothes always looked as though they had been picked with a level of deliberation. Anna's look this morning was… haphazard at best. Perhaps Elsa just felt uncomfortable with Anna's state of undress. That must be it. Anna could think of no other reason for Elsa's behaviour.

_The woman is an enigma_, Anna thought, _a beautiful, gorgeous enigma…_

Just as Anna was throwing her spoon back into the cereal bowl, giving up on trying to consume its now icky contents, she heard voices in the hallway and a key in the lock. She hopped up from the couch immediately, recognising Kristoff's voice.

Before Kristoff had a chance to turn the key and open the door, Anna threw it open from the inside. Outside, Kristoff was poised with his key still in the air. At his shoulder stood Hans.

"Hey!" Anna beamed, forgetting her appearance yet again.

"Wow Anna," Kristoff stated, smirking, "Your sense of style really has gone downhill. And it wasn't even that great to begin with." He nodded to her outfit. Behind him Hans chuckled.

"Shut up, Kristoff." Anna said grumpily, before smiling again, "Hey Hans, I see you've met my lump of a brother." She added.

"Hey!" Kristoff started, but Hans cut him off.

"I have. I was just inviting him to dinner tonight." Hans stated holding up a grocery bag, as if to prove that dinner was on the cards. "Has Elsa stopped by?" He asked.

"Uh… Yeah. She was here a minute ago." Anna said, choosing not to mention that Elsa was hardly being a ray of sunshine when she had knocked on the door.

"Great! So you're coming?" Hans questioned, hopefully.

"I said I would, yeah." Anna replied.

"Me too!" Said Kristoff.

"Fantastic!" Hans cried.

_This guy's enthusiasm knows no bounds…_ Anna noted.

"I better go get started then, or we'll be ordering take-out." Hans laughed. He waved at Anna and clapped Kristoff on the shoulder before heading down the hall.

Kristoff pushed past Anna and into their apartment, plonking grocery bags of his own down on the kitchen counter.

"Hans is cool." Kristoff noted, pulling items from the bags and depositing them in their rightful cupboards. "Dinner should be fun. It'll be nice to actually have friends in the building at last." He continued.

Kristoff knew his littler sister was, despite her dependence on sugary foods and her penchant for late nights, perfectly capable of looking after herself. But still, whenever he was away for extended periods, his big brother sense often kicked in. It would be great to know that there was someone around to keep an eye on his baby sister while he was away. Hans seemed like the perfect candidate for that job. And maybe this Elsa woman would be a good friend for Anna too. Kristoff was all too aware that his sister had almost exclusively male friends. He had never been too sure of the reason behind that, but he had in the past thought that a good girl friend might prompt Anna to be a tad more responsible and… ladylike. Kristoff knew that voicing that particular thought out loud would result in a hefty thwack around the head from Anna. It wasn't that his sister wasn't feminine. She definitely was, there was no doubt about it, but she wasn't exactly graceful. And Kristoff couldn't shake the concern that, left to her devices, Anna's lifestyle tended to be a bit… alternative. He had no doubt that the influence of someone more together, someone who didn't spend their evenings rollicking about in bars, someone more womanly, could be good for Anna. He knew that Anna in fact was often drawn to women, in a… romantic way. But Elsa was Hans' girlfriend, she could have a platonic friendship with Anna that could be just what Anna needed.

It was Anna herself that shook Kristoff from the plan that was forming in his mind.

"Yeah… tonight should be… fun." Anna agreed somewhat tentatively. To be honest, when she had told Elsa she would come to dinner, she had actually completely forgotten that Kristoff was back. It was a stroke of luck that Hans had clocked him in the hall and invited him along too. If Anna were truly, completely, honest, she would admit that when she had seen Elsa the other side of the door earlier, it was not only thoughts of Kristoff, but all semblance of rational thought that had vanished.

* * *

Along the hall, Hans too was depositing his grocery bags on the counter. He had spotted Elsa curled up on the couch on his way past, her glasses on and a book in her hands. On her lap, Kai was purring softly.

"Guess who I just met?" Hans called over his shoulder. Elsa placed a bookmark in her book and put it on the couch beside her. She stroked Kai.

"Who?" Elsa asked, genuinely curious. It wasn't like they knew anybody in this part of town really.

"Anna's brother!" Hans exclaimed. "He was out in the hall, just back from the store. We must have been there at the same time!" Hans continued.

"Her brother?" Elsa shot back, sitting up straighter on the couch and dislodging the cat slightly.

"Yeah, Kristoff. Nice guy. He got back last night apparently. Wanted to surprise Anna. She had no idea!" Hans rattled on, letting out a laugh at the idea of how shocked Anna must have been.

"Got back last night…" Elsa murmured to herself. Realisation dawning on her and bringing with it a sense of complete relief, tinged only slightly with guilt at her previous feelings.

"Yeah. He'd been away, climbing. Did Anna not tell you she lived with her brother?" Hans asked, turning around to see an unreadable expression on his girlfriend's face.

"No. She didn't." Elsa admitted. Her mind was whirring. She knew now what that feeling in her stomach had been when she saw that guy – Kristoff apparently – leaving Anna's apartment that morning.

_Well, it's not Anna's apartment exactly, is it? It's Anna and Kristoff's place._

Elsa had been jealous. Her heart lurched at the thought. It wasn't an emotion she had experienced before. And it certainly shouldn't be one she was experiencing now.

_That is highly inappropriate, Elsa. You have a boyfriend who loves you, who cares for you, who stuck with you when… No. You have to stop this._

"Anyway, I invited Kristoff to join us tonight. I hope that's alright, babe." Hans finished, smiling a little nervously over at Elsa.

Elsa looked directly at Hans and returned his smile. She put all her effort into making it seem genuine, and if the bright look on her boyfriend's face was anything to go by, then it had worked.

"That's fine, Hans. It'll be lovely, I'm sure." Elsa nodded, holding the smile on her lips with all her might.

Inside, the knot had returned to Elsa's stomach.


	7. Chapter 7

**The Chance to Fly, Chapter Seven**

**A.N: Hello Everyone! Sorry this chapter has taken a bit longer than usual, thanks for sticking with me. And I know I haven't said it before, but thanks for all the reviews as well, they're very entertaining! I love that many of you are still suspicious of Hans, you've thrown out quite a few guesses as far as that particular element of the story goes... And I'm saying nothing. Anyway, thanks for sticking with me on this one. The more I think about this story, the longer it seems to get. I think it might be a bit of a long haul, I'm afraid.**

**I hope you enjoy this chapter, let me know what you think!**

**P.S, Well done StormBreeze for catching the reference in the story title. I couldn't resist!**

* * *

"Anna!" Kristoff's voice boomed through the apartment. "Come on, it's already ten past seven!"

Anna was in her room, adding the final touches to her make-up. She had put quite a lot of effort into her appearance that evening – though she really hoped it didn't look that way. In her mind, Anna had decided that it was her attire earlier in the day that had made Elsa act so tense, so now she was doing her best to look good, to not look like a hung-over mess, or like she could just be dressed for a trip to the store.

Tonight, Anna was wearing a dress. She didn't often wear one, though not because of any tomboyish aversion to the garment, just because it wasn't often practical for her lifestyle. It was a green dress, with a black sculpted bodice. Anna really hoped it wasn't too much for dinner next door.

When she finally exited her bedroom after one last assessment of herself in the mirror, Anna was relieved to see that Kristoff had also made an effort. He was sporting a light blue long sleeved shirt tucked into khaki dress pants. He had even brushed his dirty blond locks a bit.

"Ready!" Anna stated, breezing past her brother.

"Finally." Kristoff grunted, following Anna out the door and along the hall.

Hans answered the door to number seven. He was dressed similarly to Kristoff, but in a red shirt and black pants. Anna thought briefly that he looked as though he was dressed to dance the tango, not eat dinner. But either way, he did look good.

"Hey guys, come on in!" Hans, eager as ever, stepped back to allow the others room to enter. He pulled Anna into a hug as she neared him.

"Anna, you look great," he said, squeezing her slightly as he spoke. "And Kristoff, good to see you!" he added, giving Kristoff's hand a manly shake. Kristoff handed Hans a bottle of red wine.

At the sound of Anna's name, Elsa looked up. She was standing on the kitchen side of the counter, preparing a salad to accompany Hans' main course. Her eyes trailed Anna's form, making the most of the fact that the redhead had not spotted her yet. Hans was right about something, Anna did look great. Before this very moment, Elsa had only been able to imagine Anna in her trademark skinnies and band tee. Well, that and the image of Anna in oversight shirt and little else that was now so firmly planted in her mind. But now, Anna was in a dress and looked as at home in that as she did in everything else that Elsa had seen her in. If Elsa was being honest with herself, she might admit that in fact Anna's outfit from earlier in the day was by far her favourite so far, but for now, Elsa was actively avoiding that kind of internal honesty.

Elsa stepped out from behind the counter, wiping her hands on a nearby cloth. She felt utterly ridiculous for the way she had been with Anna that morning now, and she was determined to make up for it.

"Hi Anna," Elsa let out, her voice sounded quieter than she had planned, and she cleared her throat, starting towards the redhead across the room.

"Elsa. How's it going?" Anna asked, and unless Elsa was much mistaken, there was a trace of trepidation in her voice. Elsa's feelings of guilt increased. She strode across to Anna and pulled her in for a hug. Judging by the slight squeak that came from Anna, she had not been expecting the move.

Elsa wrapped her arms around Anna and a moment or two later she felt the redhead relax against her. Elsa unconsciously rubbed a small circle on Anna's back and then released her. She looked Anna in the eyes, studying their mossy green quality.

"I'm sorry about earlier." Elsa heard herself say. "I…. didn't sleep all that well last night." She added. _What kind of an excuse was that, Elsa? I suppose, at least it's true… _Elsa was also painfully aware that in little over a week of knowing Anna, this was the second time she'd had to apologise for her own behaviour. She vowed that it would be the last.

"It's alright, Elsa. As you probably guessed I had quite a late one too! I'm sure I was looking a complete mess this morning." Anna said, half joking, half apologising for herself.

"You looked great." Elsa said bluntly. _What? Elsa, you can't just… too late, you said it, just move on swiftly_. "So your brother's back? You never told me you guys lived together."

"Didn't I?" Anna asked, looking truly surprised to hear that bit of news, "I guess I didn't, actually… Sorry."

"Not a problem." Elsa smiled, "I'm sure he's just as great as you." _Seriously, Elsa rein in it. _With that final comment, Elsa turned to where Hans and Kristoff were chatting animatedly and headed in their direction. Anna simply watched, unable to react to what Elsa had just said.

"You must be Kristoff," Elsa said politely, holding out a hand. "I'm Elsa."

"Elsa, hi. Nice to meet you." Kristoff offered, taking a hold of Elsa's hand and shaking it gently.

A look of thinly disguised pride leaked onto Hans' face as he wrapped an arm around Elsa's waist. Anna watched mutely as Hans' thumb swiped softly up and down on Elsa's hip.

"Right." Hans practically barked, "I hope everyone's hungry!"

* * *

A short while later all four of them were seated around the table that had been cleared of flowers and records and pulled out into the area behind the living room couch. Kristoff had seated himself next to Elsa and Hans had gladly taken the spot next to Anna once he had served everyone a healthy portion of handmade pasta with freshly made sauce. They were all happily tucking into their meals when the conversation turned to Kristoff's occupation.

"So, Kristoff," Hans started, "you're a professional climber, is that right?"

"Yeah. Well, it's only the last year or so that I've turned fully pro. It takes a while to gain the right sponsors and support, but I love it. I can't see myself doing anything else. Plus I get to travel." Kristoff explained. Anna knew that once he was on the topic of climbing, Kristoff could talk for hours to anyone who would listen. By the look of unadulterated interest on Hans' face, the pair looked set to hit it off.

Anna's attention, however, was almost immediately lost. She had heard the whole lot before, and as much as she loved her brother, the topic was getting a little old. Instead Anna found herself sneaking sly glances at the woman opposite her. Elsa seemed to be paying attention to Kristoff, she would nod in all the right places, and asked a couple of well-placed questions whenever a gap in the conversation appeared. She pushed her food around the plate daintily and seemed to be pecking at the pasta more than actually consuming very much of it.

"Anyway, someone in the family has to do something exciting…" Anna heard her brother say. She looked up as Hans laughed and caught Kristoff offering a teasing smile.

"Oh right, yeah. The old 'barmaid verses the adventurer' thing…" Anna sighed playfully and rolled her eyes at her brother. This was a dig that Kristoff often made towards Anna, though she knew it was in jest it did occasionally rub her the wrong way.

"How was work last night?" Elsa asked quietly. The question fell so naturally from Elsa's lips it was as though it was something she asked Anna after every shift. It seemed as though the question was meant solely for Anna's ears, but Hans turned to look at Anna as well. Anna paused as she thought back over the previous evening. She was just about to respond when Kristoff beat her to it.

"Yeah, Anna? Is smooching Magnus part of your job description now?" He asked, the teasing grin widening.

Elsa's fork had been idly shuffling her food about even whilst her eyes were on Anna, awaiting a response, but when that remark had leapt from Kristoff's mouth, she dropped the utensil to her plate with a clatter. Elsa watched the progression of the blush that had immediately taken up residence across the redhead's cheeks. To Elsa it was testament enough to the truth behind Kristoff's words. The knot in the blonde's stomach tightened with a painful jolt and she looked back down at her plate. Frozen in place.

"No!" Anna shrieked, aiming a kick at Kristoff under the table, and being immediately thankful that her aim had been true. It would have horrifying if she had missed and hit Elsa instead. "We were just messing about!" Anna knew her voice had risen to a horribly teenage pitch, but she just couldn't help the indignance that flooded her.

"What's this?" Hans cut in, "Who's Magnus? Is he the guy from the other night? The one you work with?"

"Yeah," Anna replied, "But I'm not kissing him! I mean, I did. But we were just joking. And _he_ kissed _me_ really, I was just… there… and…" Her voice faded out. Anna tried desperately to catch Elsa's eye, though she had no idea why she felt the need to. She wanted Elsa to believe that her and Magnus were just friends. But Elsa didn't look at her, wouldn't look at her, her face remained turned down towards the food that she had barely touched.

"Ah, Anna, you're blushing!" Kristoff laughed. He was really enjoying this.

"Kristoff!" Anna felt like they were kids again, she couldn't believe Kristoff was pulling this kind of stunt, especially in front of Elsa. _Come on Anna. That shouldn't matter. Elsa doesn't care. You're sitting next to her boyfriend for crying out loud. _

"Sorry, sorry." Kristoff finally conceded, raising his large hands in defeat.

"Whatever, Kristoff. You know Magnus is not exactly… my type." Anna finished awkwardly, instantly regretting her chosen line of defence. She chanced another look at the blonde opposite her as she spoke and this time was graced with a flash of arctic blue as Elsa glanced up at her, her eyebrows knitted together, a questioning look in her eyes.

"He wishes he was." Kristoff mumbled, but not quietly enough to go unheard. Anna shot a glare at her brother. They had had this conversation before. Kristoff was convinced that Magnus had more than colleague-y feelings for Anna. Anna disagreed, refusing to see the lovable giant as anything more than a good friend. Elsa's eyes had flitted to consider the blond next to her when Kristoff had let out his risky remark. This time, Anna was going to let it slide, if only in the hopes of shuffling the conversation away from this particular topic.

"So you're not with Magnus then?" Hans cut in, distracting Anna from the curious expression on Elsa's face, and looking thoroughly confused by the whole business.

"No." Anna stated calmly, "We work together. He's a _friend_." She emphasised the word 'friend' and raised her eyebrows threateningly at Kristoff before continuing, "Last night we were just messing around, doing a duet after the bar closed and Magnus thought it would be funny to plant one on me. My sneak of a brother here saw the whole thing and is now making me pay for it." She explained.

"Ah, I see." Hans nodded. "Are you with anybody though? There's a couple of good guys at my office I'm sure I could—"

Hans' words were interrupted by a loud bark of a laugh from Kristoff. All eyes turned to the bulky blond; a chocolate brown pair widened with surprise, a glacial blue pair laced with suspicious interest, and a mossy green set strained in utter mortification. Kristoff coughed and shoved a forkful of pasta into his mouth. Glancing apologetically at his little sister.

Hans turned back to Anna as if nothing had happened.

"Uh… No thanks, Hans. I'm… fine, on that front. Thanks." Anna stuttered. She was used to finding herself in awkward situations. It was part of the territory of being a class A klutz with a tendency to put her foot in her mouth. But this was a whole new level of discomfort. She had to find a way out of it.

"Elsa." Anna said suddenly, "How is Kai? Is he better now? I know he was sick and everything the other night and…" _Anna, that was about a week ago now… Why are you bringing this up? _

Elsa seemed conscious of Anna's uneasiness though, and despite her earlier refusal to even look at the redhead, she was willing to help her out.

"Oh, he's a lot better now, thank-you Anna. I think he found it hard to settle into the apartment. He was off his food, so I took him to the vet but they didn't find anything. And, like I said, he seems fine again now." Elsa spoke slowly and clearly, and directly to Anna, all the while offering her a reassuring smile. Anna nodded along with her words and then noticed a look of bewilderment on her brother's face.

"Kai is Elsa's cat." Anna told Kristoff pointedly. As she did so she looked to Elsa and shot her a knowing grin. Elsa laughed quietly.

_Good move, Anna! We have a private joke now! Maybe years down the line we can be all, 'Remember when I thought your cat was your child?' Oh, we'll laugh! And…. Alright, calm down. _

Kristoff continued to look puzzled, unsure of what humour there was to be found in Anna's statement. He looked to Hans for an explanation, but the other man simply shrugged.

* * *

After the incident – which Anna was determined to have her revenge on Kristoff for – the rest of dinner passed pleasantly. For the most part, conversation consisted of Kristoff and Hans having what Anna deemed 'man-chat', though she was able to interject every now and then, and Hans would frequently ask for her opinion on whatever their chosen topic was at that moment. Elsa was by far the quietest presence at the table, for all intents and purposes she did appear to be listening and interested in the talk going on around her, but she ventured few of her own comments, and Anna caught a look on her face several times which suggested that Elsa's mind was perhaps elsewhere. By this time though, Anna was just happy that the focus was not on her own love life, or lack thereof. She was also happy to be able to spend a whole evening in Elsa's company. Anna wasn't sure what it was, but Elsa made her feel calm. The blonde's cool presence had a tranquilising effect on the redhead, it was not a sensation that graced Anna often, and she found that she relished it.

Elsa found that she too was enjoying the evening. It was not in her nature to flourish in groups of people. In the past when Elsa had been obliged to attend business dinners and the like with her father or Hans, she had been unable to shake the tension that pulled her shoulder blades together and tightened her chest painfully. In those instances Elsa had often found herself bombarded with questions and locked into intense conversations with whichever suited man she had been placed beside. The reason for the interest in the blonde had been explained to Elsa in two ways. Her father had always told her it was because she was a composed and beautiful young lady. Hans had once informed her that it was, "Because you're so mysterious, babe. And hot. Don't forget hot!" Neither explanation had made Elsa feel any more comfortable in formal situations.

But tonight, Kristoff seemed happy to let Elsa be. He was clearly making the most of having Hans to talk to about climbing and cars and… whatever else they had been talking about. Hans was just pleased that Elsa had agreed to host a dinner for their neighbours at all, and would occasionally display that pleasure with glances that seemed to Elsa to say, "I told you it would be fine." And then there was Anna. Elsa had to school herself to not simply spend the evening observing the redhead seated across from her. Anna's expressions were entertaining, to say the least. The girl was one of the most animated human beings Elsa had ever come across and it was nothing short of endearing on every level.

When the subject of Magnus had arisen, it had brought with it a flood of something white hot and fluid that had soaked down Elsa's spine. It was a similar feeling to the one that had surfaced when she had seen Kristoff let himself out of what she had thought was only Anna's apartment. And yet this feeling was stronger. The idea of Anna kissing this Magnus character was painful. There was no other way to describe it. Elsa knew she was jealous. The guilt had begun to implode. Anna's description of the events surrounding said kiss did help to ease the tightened knot within Elsa, but the realisation that she was developing certain feelings towards the redhead still turned her brain into a writhing mass.

_And then what was that, 'he's not my type' thing… That felt like a very loaded statement. Was Anna suggesting that Magnus alone is not her type… or maybe that men in general do not interest her? _The thoughts had burst immediately into Elsa's mind, and remained there, swirling restlessly for the remainder of the night. She knew that really it made no difference. Anna could like men, Annd could like women, Anna could harbour intense feelings for reindeer for all it mattered; Elsa was with Hans. He had done so much for her, tried so hard to make her happy. She wouldn't leave him. At that realisation, Elsa looked across to where Hans was smiling, seeming genuinely happy. Elsa wished he looked like that more often, and knew deep down that she was the reason for which he did not.

* * *

Eventually, at around midnight, when dinner and dessert had been long since consumed, Anna tried and failed to stifle a yawn. Kristoff chuckled at his sister.

"I think that's our cue." He said quietly.

Anna had let all semblance of table manners fly out the window and was resting her tired head against her hand, her elbow propped up on the table.

"I'm alright." Anna let out sleepily, just about managing to hold in another yawn. Elsa laughed this time, watching the redhead with what she hoped was carefully masked affection. Hans stood up and put his hands on both of Anna's shoulders.

"It's fine Anna, I think we're all getting tired now." He smiled down at her, and Anna wondered when it was that she had gained another big brother. Her life seemed full of them sometimes. She was too tired to protest further though, and she too stood from the table.

The four of them made their way over to the door, Anna could hear Kristoff thanking Hans and suggesting they hit the nearby climbing wall together sometime. Kristoff said he would "show Hans the ropes" and they both laughed at one of the few – and most overused – climbing related jokes. Anna rolled her eyes. She heard a soft voice from behind her.

"Hey." Elsa said. Anna turned to see the taller woman behind her.

"Thanks for coming." Elsa uttered quietly. It seemed to Anna that whenever Elsa spoke, the words were meant only for her, that her comments were personal and, dare she even think it, had an intimate touch to them.

"Oh, I enjoyed it. Thanks for inviting me!" Anna said, meaning every word. Elsa stepped a bit closer. _Am I going to get another Elsa-hug?_ Anna thought eagerly.

And she was. Once again, Elsa's thin arms came up to wrap around Anna and pull her in. Anna could feel Elsa's chin resting gently on her shoulder, she could smell the blonde hair that now tickled her nose. _If snowdrops had a scent, they'd smell like this_.

Anna let out a long sigh, bringing her own arms to encircle Elsa's waist. Elsa heard Anna's sigh and chuckled lightly, her stomach flexing and relaxing against Anna's. If either woman chose to think about it, they might consider the hugs that they now frequently shared as perhaps more familiar than those between by most newly acquainted neighbours. Clearly neither of them were willing to give up the moments of closeness just to adhere to social norms.

"Anna! It's been a pleasure, as always." Anna heard Hans' voice boom at her. She let go of Elsa quickly and stepped back to where she was promptly swept into a Hans-hug. They were far more crushing than Elsa's.

"Thanks for dinner, Hans. You're a great cook!" Anna said, once Hans had released her and she had regained the breath he had squeezed out of her. In the corner of her eye she could see Elsa shaking Kristoff's hand once more.

Hans looked around for his girlfriend and, finding her, pulled her in close to him, positioning her in front of him and draping his arms over her from behind.

"It's been a lovely evening." Elsa stated, offering both Anna and Kristoff a small smile.

Anna saw Hans' arms tighten a tad around Elsa and look of pride appear on his face. He leant down and planted a kiss on the side of the blonde's neck. Anna watched as Hans' lips moved as he whispered something to his girlfriend. The redhead looked away.

"Well, goodnight all!" Kristoff said happily, opening the door and pulling Anna along behind him. Anna twisted slightly in Kristoff's grip and threw a wave over her shoulder. Her last vision was of Elsa in Hans' arms as the door closed behind her.


	8. Chapter 8

**The Chance to Fly, Chapter Eight**

**A.N: Hello dear readers! Thank-you for sticking with this story, and thank-you for all your reviews, they really do fuel the writing. I think it's time for a little more tension, and a little bit of internal turmoil for our lovely Anna... And a little more insight into Hans and Elsa's relationship. I know it seems like this story is dragging on a bit, but I promise you I know where it's going, and you will all get what you want... eventually!**

**Keep sending me your feedback, and I'll try to keep up with the updates!**

* * *

When Anna lay in her bed after returning from dinner at Hans and Elsa's apartment, she no longer felt tired. Instead, she felt quite opposite. Less than half an hour earlier she had been barely able to keep her head from dropping onto the table. Now, snug in her bed, she was wide-awake. Anna's mind was replaying every moment of the evening, or specifically, every Elsa related moment. Every smile, every inadvertent touch of feet under the table, every moment of eye contact, all of it whirled around Anna's mind on some kind of dizzy merry-go-round.

But her thoughts were not the only thing keeping sleep at bay. Since settling into her bed, she heard intermittent noises from beyond her wall. Never before had she heard such soft sounds so clearly from the next door apartment. _Maybe I'm just super attuned to all things Elsa, _Anna thought self-indulgently. These noises were not the heart-breaking sobs that she had overheard what felt like months ago, but was little more than one week previous. Tonight, the sounds from next door were more muted. Anna could, every now and then, hear Hans' booming laugh through the wall behind her bed punctuated by his energetic yet indecipherable chatter. And, if she listened very carefully, she thought she could also hear the gentle tones of Elsa's voice. Although, admittedly, Anna _was_ quite tired, despite being unable to sleep, and could easily have imagined the blonde's muffled words reaching her ears.

And so Anna lay there, listening to the noises from next door and straining her ears for Elsa. Some time later, when the sounds had ebbed away and Anna was finally on the brink of sleep, a thought occurred to her.

_What if I hear them having sex?! _

It was not a thought that Anna was particularly proud of allowing to permeate her weary mind, but it had ventured in uninvited and set up camp. The minute the possibility had occurred to her Anna felt her face flood with a strange hot-cold mix than flowed over her cheeks and ran throughout her body until every inch of her skin felt uncomfortable. The idea of hearing her new neighbours in the throes of passion, of hearing _Elsa_ in that state, Anna's head couldn't cope with the thought. She wondered exactly how Elsa would sound; what noises would escape quiet, reserved Elsa when she was at her least controlled. Anna felt her flush deepen, and with it an increased sense of guilt. It was an irrational reaction, but after yet more time spent with Elsa, Anna simply did not think she'd be able to cope with actually _hearing_ Elsa and her boyfriend. Seeing the pair together as she had left their apartment had begun to burn a small hole in Anna's heart that night, even now she could feel the singed edges of that hole crackling painfully in her chest. She liked Hans, he was a great guy and so easy to be around. And Elsa… Well, if it hadn't already been clear in Anna's mind, it certainly was now. Anna was well on her way to falling for the blonde next door.

To begin with, Anna was sure that what she felt was pure attraction. What self-respecting man – or girl who likes girls – would _not_ be attracted to Elsa? She was perfection personified. But now… Now, Anna knew she was in too deep entirely. She was struggling against her feelings. Where before, the desire for Elsa felt new and like a perfectly harmless secret, now it was beginning to hurt a little bit, it was becoming an ache.

As Anna tortured herself with thoughts of Elsa and Hans together, she was powerless to quash the groan of mild anguish that escaped her. She rolled onto her side and pulled her knees up to her chest, flopping a pillow over her head – the noise from next door had fallen silent, but the possibility of it reoccurring was making Anna feel vulnerable. Anna was unaccustomed to feelings of emotional turmoil. Sure, she had arguments with her brother sometimes. Sometimes (around once a month in fact) she felt closer to breaking point than usual. Sometimes she feared that she was a 23 year old who had never had a real relationship and wondered just how weird a person that made her. But mostly, Anna kept negative emotions at bay. She was, as a rule, pretty down to earth. This thing with Elsa was twisting her up now, and she had to put a stop to it.

As the minutes ticked by, Anna began to form a half-asleep solution. If she was going to rid herself of this guilt and turmoil, she would need to rid herself of her feelings for Elsa, to rid herself of her feelings for Elsa she would need to… Well, Anna could work out the finer points in the morning. But there could definitely be no more of those hugs that smelled like fresh linen and frosty mornings. They had to stop.

It was with that solution in mind that Anna began to feel a little bit easier about the situation she had found herself in. And it was with her new 'plan' in mind that she at last slipped into sleep.

* * *

The next morning found Kristoff and Anna sitting opposite each other at the small round table in the kitchen, both hunched sleepily over their cereal bowls.

"So dinner last night was good." Anna ventured.

Kristoff grunted in response.

"You and Hans seemed to hit it off." She continued.

"Yeah, he's cool. That Elsa chick is a bit weird though, kind of cold." Kristoff answered.

At her brother's words Anna felt her shoulders tense. Elsa wasn't weird. She was quiet, sure. But quiet and weird are not the same thing. Elsa is caring, she's surprisingly warm, she's funny sometimes. She's not weird.

_No, Anna, remember, you're trying to stop this silly little crush you've let yourself develop._

"She's quiet, I guess." Anna conceded. The moment she had spoken, she felt bad. "But she's awesome." Anna added after a short pause, unable to stop herself, "She's not normally so quiet. She's shy, I think."

Kristoff looked up from his cereal bowl and eyeballed his sister for a moment. Anna felt a blush arise on her cheeks, and she promptly stuck an overloaded spoonful of cereal into her mouth and shrugged. Kristoff grunted once more and stood from the table, taking his now empty bowl over to the sink.

"Right." He said, "I'm going for a meeting with the sponsors. Try to behave yourself." Kristoff finished with a teasing grin and then headed to his room to get ready.

"Yes, mother." Anna replied, knowing exactly how to respond to her brother's patronising tendencies.

This morning, Anna had a meeting as well. Well, it wasn't a meeting in the sense that Kristoff had a meeting, but Anna did need to go and pick up her wages from Oaken. She waited until Kristoff was out of the room and lifted her cereal bowl to her lips, draining the dregs of milky cereal mush. She dumped her bowl in the sink, wiped her mouth on the back of her hand and grabbed her keys from the counter.

"Later Kristoff!" Anna called over her shoulder as she shut the front door behind herself. There may have been another grunted response from her brother's room, but if there was then Anna did not catch it. It seemed Kristoff may have had more than his usual amount of glasses of wine at dinner the previous night, as the guy was usually more eloquent in the mornings than he had been over breakfast. Anna smiled to herself at the thought. There were still come things she could handle better than her big brother.

Chuckling slightly, Anna stepped off the exterior doormat in the hallway and immediately tripped over.

"What the?!" Anna exclaimed as she just managed to stop herself from hitting the deck completely. She spun around to see what had forced her from her feet. There on the doormat was a black cat, curled up but with his head raised. On his face there was a disgruntled expression, as though Anna had disrupted the slumbering feline with her clumsiness.

"Kai!" Anna cried. "What are you doing there?" She asked. Thankfully, Anna wasn't quite mad enough to expect a reply.

Kai stood and stretched, smacking his lips a couple of times sleepily, and then made his way to where Anna was considering him from across the hall. As he reached her, he pushed himself up slightly on his hind legs and headbutted Anna in the knee. He pushed his head against her leg and rubbed it back and forth. Anna could hear a quiet purr rumbling from the cat.

"I'm not sure you're supposed to be out here." Anna smiled, crouching down to stroke the inky black creature. She looked up the hall towards the door of number seven expecting to see Elsa or Hans watching her altercation with their pet. But there was nobody there. Anna slipped both her arms beneath Kai's furry stomach and lifted him up as she stood. The cat rested his front paws on her bicep and settled quite happily in her arms. The redhead carried him back to his rightful home and knocked at the door. After a minute or two of waiting, the door was opened and Elsa stood before Anna.

"Hey. I think this belongs to you." Anna said, smiling at the still-purring cat in her arms. Elsa looked startled to see Anna, and even more startled to see Kai with her.

"Where did you… What?" Elsa stuttered looking between Anna and the cat and then back into her own apartment, as if double-checking that Kai really wasn't inside, as though Anna might have brought her some other black cat. Seeing no furry shape inside, Elsa turned back to Anna. It was then that she realised the strangest part of this surprise visit. "He let you pick him up?" She asked.

"Well… yeah." Anna answered, lifting her arms slightly as though to prove that there was definitely a cat currently in them.

"He never lets anyone pick him up. Except me." Elsa said quietly.

"Oh… I'm sorry?" Anna posed her statement as though it was a question. She wasn't sure if Elsa was upset that someone other than herself had bonded with her pet, or whether she should now be wary of the purring beast.

"No! It's good! It's fine. I mean… it's…" Elsa spoke quickly to reassure the redhead and then trailed off thoughtfully, still eyeing the pair in front of her.

The pause in conversation allowed Anna a chance to notice the appearance of the blonde. She was, Anna observed, wearing a dressing robe. A thin, white, dressing robe, made of some kind of silky material. Her hair was up in a messy bun and her legs, and feet, were bare. Anna felt the same flushed heat from the night before begin to make itself known once more on her cheeks. She cleared her throat.

"What about Hans?" Anna asked suddenly, breaking Elsa out of the intrigued daze she seemed to have slipped into.

"What?" Elsa asked, her eyes regaining their focus.

"Hans picks him up, right?" Anna persisted, Elsa looked a bit confused. "The cat. Kai. Hans can pick him up?" She tried again.

"Oh!" Elsa exclaimed, remembering what she had said previously. "No. Hans and Kai kind of ignore each other. Actually, Hans says Kai treats him with, 'frosty indifference'. I think he just doesn't like cats." Elsa finished with a smile.

Anna mulled Elsa's words over and as she did so she found her eyes wandering back over the taller woman's robe. It wasn't clear if Elsa was wearing anything underneath it. _And those legs…_ Then, Anna remembered the decision she had made before falling asleep the night before. She had to try harder to break herself out of this pointless crush. It wasn't fair on Hans, who Anna thought could actually be a pretty good friend. It wasn't fair on Elsa for Anna to spend all of their time together thinking about the blonde's endless legs and gorgeous wintry eyes. And it wasn't fair on Anna herself to continue allowing these thoughts when she knew nothing would ever come of them. Anna shook her head to clear her mind.

"Right. Well, here you go." She said, getting straight to the point and thrusting the cat towards Elsa with a start. Kai wasn't prepared for Anna's sudden movement and he let out an irritated yowl. He pushed himself right out of Anna's arms, bounced off Elsa's unprepared chest and shot past her into the apartment, a black blur with his fur standing on end.

Elsa spun to watch her cat disappear under the coffee table then turn to glare back at her as though it was the blonde's fault that Anna had deposited him so gracelessly.

"Sorry. I'm not that used to pets." Anna started, attempting to explain away how her change of mind had impacted on the previously purring feline. Elsa turned back and smiled at Anna.

"He's fine. Don't worry." She laughed a little, then asked, "Did you not have pets growing up?"

"We had a dog, it was a…" Anna stopped herself mid-sentence. She knew that she couldn't just refuse to see Elsa anymore, that wouldn't be the right way to rid herself of the crush. Right now though, with Anna's realisation of just how deep the desire for her neighbour had gotten, she also couldn't stand around and chat with the beautiful blonde. It could have been seeing Elsa in her robe, looking like she had just gotten out of bed, but for some reason, on this particular morning, Anna just had to get away from the woman.

Elsa was watching Anna, waiting for her to finish her sentence. She saw as Anna's eyes flicked this way and that, as though she was in the midst of some internal struggle. She watched a blush touch the redhead's cheeks. She watched as Anna's hands became fists by her sides.

"I have to go to work now." Anna blurted. Elsa looked surprised.

"Now?" The blonde asked, "It's 10am."

"Yes." Anna nodded once. Elsa studied her; she came to the conclusion that something was definitely up with the redhead, but that it was probably best not to push her this morning.

"OK." Elsa said quietly. "Well, thanks for bringing Kai back. He must have slipped out when Hans left for work this morning." She explained.

Elsa stepped forward out of her apartment and Anna immediately stepped backwards.

"No problem. See you around, Elsa." Anna said. She didn't smile and in fact, Elsa noticed, Anna's face was almost rigidly expressionless. The blonde had been about to go in for a hug, but at the sight of Anna retreating so swiftly, she turned the embrace on herself and wrapped her arms around her waist uncertainly.

"I… Have a good day, Anna." Elsa said. Anna's back was already turned as she strode off down the hall, onto the stairs and out of sight.

* * *

Back in her apartment, Elsa had coaxed Kai out from under the coffee table. He was now sitting on the couch next to her, but was still unwilling to forgive her enough to make any contact with the blonde. Despite the fact that what happened wasn't even Elsa's fault.

Elsa pulled her legs up and underneath her; she shifted her robe slightly to cover her thighs, though it reached little else. Her run in with Anna at the door had been the strangest that the two of them had shared yet. She had no idea what had changed Anna from her usual perky, happy, self into such a stiff and tense version. Whatever it was, it was clear that Anna was struggling with something. She normally beamed at Elsa whenever they spoke. She normally made Elsa's heart lift a little. She normally made it seem as though everything that dragged Elsa into the darkness could be banished with a simple embrace.

Today, the regimental Anna with clenched jaw and eyes that refused to meet Elsa's left the blonde feeling deeper into the abyss than usual. It felt as though Anna couldn't get away from her quickly enough and it saddened Elsa. In the space of time it had been since she had moved into the new apartment Anna had become a flame in the gloom. Elsa couldn't remember the last person that made her feel as alive as Anna managed to. Anna was so bright and lively, she could pull Elsa from her swirling sadness without even knowing she was doing it, without even knowing that there was a swirling sadness for Elsa to be pulled from. Perhaps that was what made Anna so refreshing; she didn't know Elsa, she didn't know Elsa's story, she wasn't looking at her with poorly masked pity, she wasn't waiting beneath her with a net, anticipating the crumbling of her fragile frame.

Anna just saw Elsa. And she liked her for what she saw. Or at least, Elsa had thought she did. But after today…

Elsa sighed and reached a hand out to scratch Kai's ear. The cat began to purr. He couldn't help himself though he tried to maintain his moody disposition.

"You let her pick you up, huh?" Elsa asked the black cat. "You like her too." She said softly. The cat gave up on his annoyance and moved towards his owner, flopping down next to her bare leg and rolling over to have his tummy stroked.

* * *

Anna had made it to Oaken's without allowing herself to consider her behaviour with Elsa at all. She had blocked the interaction from her mind, and found that _not_ thinking about the blonde was something she hadn't done in quite some time.

In the hopes of continuing this new theme, Anna had asked Oaken if she could work that night. She wasn't on the rota for it, but she had a feeling that her thoughts may slip into old habits if she was left alone in her apartment for the night. Oaken had looked at Anna as though he knew that something must be amiss, but he didn't venture the question and granted Anna her wish of an extra shift. As it turned out, Oaken had a call earlier from a member of staff who was meant to be working that night. It had been a request for a shift change and Oaken had agreed to cover it himself as it was to be a quiet night. Now, he wouldn't have to do it.

Anna was thankful for the promise of another night of distraction and was beginning to think that 'Operation: Get Over Elsa' may have some merit to it after all. She headed home to wash up breakfast things and throw herself whole-heartedly into housework for the afternoon. When she got back Anna only allowed herself to be momentarily disappointed that there was no black furry thing on her doormat when she got to the apartment, and no flash of white-blonde hair along the hall.

By the time Hans returned from work in the evening, Elsa had been stewing in her mood for the whole day, twirling thoughts of Anna's strange change in outlook, as well as people's perceptions of her own weaknesses.

She was still on the couch when Hans closed the door behind him and greeted her with a smile.

"Hi Babe! How are you doing? Good day?" He asked, coming towards her and bending down to give her lips a kiss.

"Fine. You?" Elsa replied.

"Oh, you know, finance, finance, finance, non-stop fun!" he joked. "I thought maybe we'd go to Oaken's tonight. I think you'll really like it there and Anna—"

"No." Elsa cut in. "I'm not up for that, Hans. You can go though." She finished, offering what she saw as a compromise.

"What? No, I don't want to go without you." Hans said, still smiling weakly at his girlfriend. "It'll be fun. I want to go with my beautiful girlfriend." There was a playful pleading in his voice now.

"It's not really my thing. But seriously, you can go, I don't mind." Elsa said, looking up at Hans as though trying to reassure him that she was fine with him going out without her.

"It used to be your thing." Hans said. The smile had well and truly left his face now, and he was looking at Elsa with a hint of sorrow.

"Don't." Elsa said sternly, standing from the couch and starting to walk towards the bedroom. Hans caught her elbow as she tried to pass him and stopped the blonde in her tracks.

"It's been a year, Elsa." He said softly, loosening his grip on her.

"Do you think I don't know that?" Elsa shouted, twisting to look Hans in the face. There was anger in her eyes, and she pulled her arm violently from Hans' grasp.

"Of course you do, I know you do." Hans said quietly, holding his hands up in surrender.

"It's been a year so I should just be fine now?" Elsa asked, her voice laced with ire.

"No, Elsa. That's not what I'm saying." Hans sighed, he reached for Elsa's arm again, and she allowed him to take it, though she didn't look at him. "I know it doesn't work like that. I know you're still hurting, still dealing with everything. I just want to see you happy again." Hans explained. He pulled Elsa towards him and turned her face to his. He could see the tears shining on her lower lashes.

"I'm sorry." Elsa whispered.

"You don't need to apologise. I do understand. I'm trying to understand." Hans said, studying Elsa's face and wiping a tear track from her cheek with his thumb.

"I want you to go tonight." Elsa said, sniffing quietly and finally meeting Hans' eyes.

"Elsa—" Hans started, but Elsa interrupted him.

"No. I'm fine here. I don't want to be the reason you can't have fun. I'm happy for you to go. I _want_ you to go." She reiterated. Hans simply looked at her. "I'll go next time." Elsa promised.

Hans studied her for a moment more and then nodded. He wrapped his arms around her and tugged her into his chest, waiting until he felt her arms on his back.

"Just call me if you need me and I'll come home, OK?" Hans spoke softly into Elsa's hair. He felt her nod against his chest.

"I do love you, Elsa." He whispered. Elsa gripped him tighter and he could feel small sobs wracking her chest.

"I'm sorry." Elsa repeated, though Hans could hardly make out what she had said. He sighed and rested his chin atop the blonde's head, rubbing her back soothingly.


	9. Chapter 9

**The Chance to Fly, Chapter Nine**

**A.N: Hello faithful followers. Firstly, thanks, as always, for sticking with this story. I love all your reviews and all your guesses. Now, here's a little heads up: the next three chapters or so are going to be a bit intense. This is where the past begins to surface, the present begins to make more sense, and maybe the future will come into focus too. As far as this chapter goes, my advice, if I can be so patronising as to offer some, is this: Don't judge too soon.**

**I'm primed and ready for your backlash...**

* * *

Anna's shift had started a couple of hours earlier and Oaken had been correct in predicting a quiet night. The lack of things to do was beginning to wear on Anna. She had hoped that the evening would provide enough distraction to rid her of thoughts about a particular blonde goddess next door. Sure, Anna knew that crushes were a perfectly normal and healthy part of life. But when said crush was on a friend, a friend with a boyfriend, then things began to get more complicated.

It had been fifteen minutes since Anna had last had a customer to serve. She surveyed the bar and noted that everyone was still mid-drink, and that there wasn't even any empty glasses for her to collect. She leant her head back on a shelf and stared up at the ceiling, tapping the toe of one of her converse-clad feet distractedly. Anna was beginning to feel remorse for her abrupt mood change with Elsa that morning. It wasn't Elsa's fault that she was incredibly attractive. It wasn't Elsa's fault that Anna was lusting after her like a teenage boy. It wasn't Elsa's fault that was also kind and charming and ridiculously mysterious.

Anna's thoughts were interrupted by a cough. She immediately pulled herself back to an upright position and plastered on a smile.

"Hey Anna." It was Hans.

"Hans!" Anna said, somewhat surprised. "I wasn't expecting to see you tonight."

"Well, it wasn't planned, I just thought it might be nice for Elsa and I to come out for a drink." Hans explained, a tinge of bitterness to his words.

"Elsa's here?" Anna asked, feeling a small shot of panic race up her spine.

"No." Hans replied simply.

"Oh… Uh… Well, what can I get you?" Anna enquired. Hans was certainly not being his usual peppy self this evening. In fact, if anything, he seemed down, and Anna had never seen him anything other than mildly ecstatic.

"Scotch, please."

That was not what Hans had ordered the last time Anna had seen him in Oaken's, but she reached for the bottle anyway and poured out a measure for Hans, placing the glass on a napkin and pushing it towards him. Hans handed her a card.

"I think a tab will be in order tonight, Anna." He said with a grim smile. Anna nodded and placed his card on a rack behind the till.

This Hans was a new one, and Anna wasn't quite sure what to say to him. Normally Hans would be bursting with conversation, brimming with questions and full of energy. Tonight, Hans seemed defeated, deflated, tired. Anna wanted to ask if everything was alright – though it clearly was not – but she wasn't sure how to go about it without seeming as though she was prying.

And so the evening developed an uneasy pattern. Anna would pour Hans a drink, and he would sit hunched on a bar stool opposite her, sipping the amber liquid, swilling it around the glass and gazing thoughtfully into it until it was eventually empty, at which point he would push it towards Anna for a refill. Anna wasn't sure exactly how many of these refills she should grant. It was clear that Hans was unhappy, and heavy drinking was known to have solved precisely zero problems ever.

"Sorry, Anna. I know I'm not great company tonight." Hans finally said, surprising Anna by breaking the silence she had expected to long continue.

"It's OK, Hans. This is a bar, after all!" She replied, chucking somewhat awkwardly. Then Anna sighed, unable to hold back the question any longer. "Are you alright though, Hans?"

Hans looked up at Anna when he heard her question. She could see that his eyes were rimmed with red slightly, and his focus may not have been what it usually would be.

"It's Elsa." He said simply.

"What do you mean? Is she alright? What's wrong with her?" At the thought of something being the matter with Elsa, all of Anna's plans to be aloof about the woman flew out of the window. Hans continued to look vaguely in Anna's direction and appeared unaware that her outburst had been a bit of an overreaction.

"She's fine." He said, then continued. "Well, no. She's not fine. She hasn't been for a while. Not since her parents." Hans was staring back into his glass. Anna could see that it was nearly empty once more.

"Not since her parents what?" Anna asked, curiosity and empathy getting the best of her.

"Died." Hans let out; he gulped back the last of his scotch and pushed the empty glass back to Anna.

Anna just stared at the glass for a minute, unable to absorb what Hans had just told her. Hans looked between Anna and the glass until she finally noticed and refilled it once more, adding slightly less than a full measure this time. She still couldn't find the words to respond to Hans.

"I shouldn't have said that." Hans noticed Anna's stunned silence and spoke so quietly that it was almost a whisper. He looked up at Anna with wide eyes, and within them Anna could plainly see regret and grief that he had divulged something he shouldn't have.

"I wouldn't… I won't… I mean, I'm not going to mention it." Anna said, struggling to know what to say. "What happened though?" She asked softly.

Hans considered for a moment before he clearly decided that the damage was done. He took a small sip of his drink.

"They were on a cruise around the Fjords. The ship went down." He said, his voice void of emotion. "Elsa hasn't been the same since."

"She lost her parents. She's bound to be… different." Anna said desperately, as though trying to protect Elsa without really knowing any details. She could feel a lump forming in her throat as the realisation of Hans' words slowly hit her.

"Of course. I know that. I just… I've tried so hard, Anna. So hard…" Hans trailed off and for a minute Anna thought he might be about to cry. She reached over and put a hand on his shoulder, he dropped his head to his chest.

"Hans… grief is… it's difficult for everyone and—" Anna tried to soothe the devastated figure before her but he interrupted.

"I look after her. I try to make her happy, just to make her smile sometimes. I love her, Anna, I really do, but…" Hans words died in his mouth and he finished his drink in one swallow. "Sorry, Anna." He started, "This is ridiculous. I can't just come into your place of work and start spouting my problems at you!" He said, a trace of his usual jollity was back in his voice.

"Don't worry about it—"

"I mean, imagine if you waltzed into the office and started weeping on my desk!" Hans let out a hoot of laughter at the mere thought.

"Well, yeah, but… This is bar. You work in finance…" Anna replied, uncertain of which way this conversation was going to go next. Apparently, it was going nowhere as a great waves of laughter continued to emerge from Hans.

At that moment Anna spied one of the regulars waving an empty glass in her direction from the opposite end of the bar. She made her way towards the elderly, bearded man.

"Another of the same?" She asked him, a strained smile being the best she could offer.

"If you don't mind, love." Came the reply. "Is everything alright over there?" This particular regular was one of Anna's self-named 'guardian angels', and he nodded discretely to where Hans was still chuckling quietly to himself. Anna followed the gesture.

"Oh yeah, thanks. It's alright. He's a neighbour of mine, just… he's having a rough day." Anna explained. She received a nod in return.

Anna ventured back along the bar to where Hans had gotten a hold of the whiskey bottle that she had accidently left out. He poured himself another rather full glass.

"Hope it's alright, Anna." Hans said gesturing toward the now half-empty bottle as he put it back down on the bar with a bang.

"Uh… Sure." Said Anna. Grasping the bottle and attempting to slyly put it back on the shelf behind her. She didn't really need to be sly about the movement though, as by this stage Hans was beyond noticing the finer details. Oaken, on the other hand, would have noticed what had just happened for sure, and would not be happy about it either. Customers were certainly not encouraged to help themselves to hard liquor. Anna was thankful that the bar's namesake was not in attendance that night.

Hans went back to staring into his glass quietly, and Anna returned to watching him a bit nervously from a few feet away from the bar.

* * *

Elsa was feeling spectacularly bad. Between her day of wallowing on the couch, focussing on what it could have been that had pushed Anna away from her, to considering all of her own faults and how they had magnified over the past horrific year, and then to her run-in with Hans a couple of hours ago, Elsa was positively drowning in anguish.

She knew that Hans loved her. She knew that he had looked after her when any other boyfriend might have made a subtle exit. She knew that she had ruined the previous year for him. But she did try. She tried to be upbeat for the bubbly brunette. She tried to make his life a little easier too. She tried to love him in return. But she had been numb. She had spent twelve months of her life unable to feel almost anything at all for the most part.

The nights were the worst. At night, and especially when she was alone, she could barely keep the darkness at bay. She longed to have her life back the way it had been. She longed for the happy days she had spent with Hans at the start of their relationship. She longed to have her parents back. And yet there was nothing in her power to grant those wishes. Nothing in anybody's power to answer those prayers.

_That's enough, Elsa. You've spent the day stewing in your own sadness. You've driven Hans away, you've done something to Anna too. It's time to pull yourself together. _Elsa told herself forcefully.

_Your parents aren't coming back. You've destroyed enough of Hans' time. You need to get a grip. _

Elsa looked to the cat sleeping peacefully at her side. She knew that Hans had been there for her throughout the whole ordeal of losing her parents so far. And yet it was Kai who was her true confidant. It was Kai who comforted her when she couldn't keep the tears at bay anymore, and she sobbed to herself in the dead of the night. It was Kai who listened to her true feelings, Kai that she was able to actually talk to.

_Kai is a cat, Elsa. He has no idea what you're talking about. You could tell him the forecast for tomorrow's weather and he would still 'listen.' _

It was then that a memory erupted in Elsa's mind; one that she had tried to supress. There was one night in particular, soon after she and Hans had moved into the new apartment. Hans had been out at a meeting and Elsa had allowed her feelings to smother her to such a point that something had to give. She had curled up on the couch under a blanket, her face pushed into the warm fur of her feline companion and she had bawled. She had cried like she did when she was a child. Like she did when she wanted her parents to overhear her and come and comfort her back to sleep. But it wasn't her parents who had heard her that night. It was Anna.

Anna had knocked on the door. Anna had asked if she was alright. Anna had waited and waited, but Elsa could not respond. How could she? What would she have said? "Sorry if I disturbed you. It's just that my parents drowned and I've trapped a good man into a relationship that will only hold him back. Oh, and also, I miss my old room." Yeah, that would have made her look like a perfectly normal neighbour.

Elsa stood up abruptly from the couch and knocked Kai from her lap.

"Sorry sweetheart." She said to the cat, as she threw off the blanket that had been covering her knees.

Elsa strode to her bedroom and stood in front of the full-length mirror. She looked herself hard in the eyes.

_It's time to pull yourself together, Elsa. It's time to move on, to accept the past and to leave it where it is. You need to let it go now. _

All the while Elsa was giving herself an internal motivational speech, she kept eye contact with the mirror. She knew that it had to stick this time, that it wouldn't be easy, but that she had to start being kind to those around her, and being kind to herself too.

She briefly considered taking a pair of scissors to her spun-gold locks to mark the moment of transition, but promptly thought better of it. This change was to be on the inside, it didn't need to be a physical signal. Plus, she'd probably make a horrible job of it. No, cutting her hair as cathartic as she'd been told it was, would not be a good idea. She had allowed herself to get carried away in the moment with that particular brainwave.

Elsa nodded once firmly to herself in the mirror. She was going to get her life back in order, she'd had enough of curling in on herself, of being seen as 'poor little Elsa,' and of bringing Hans down with her. Change was afoot and Elsa was going to embrace it.

* * *

Back at Oaken's matters had not improved. It seemed to Anna that the last drink to which Hans had helped himself had been the one that had shoved him over the line.

It was reaching the end of Anna's shift and the bar was now empty except for herself and Hans. The other customers had left some time ago, and the last of the regular's had just exited, throwing a cautionary look at Hans on his way out.

Hans was now swaying on his seat. His words were clinging together in a drunken slur. And Anna was intensely regretting allowing him to drink as much as he had.

"Elsa's great, you know?" He garbled at Anna, with an earnest yet blurred look in his chocolate brown eyes. "She's beautiful, she's funny… When I met her… oh man! She's gorgeous. Don't you think, Anna? Don't you think Elsa is gorgeous?" Hans' sentence ended in a demand, he was challenging Anna to disagree with his statement. But there was no way Anna was going to disagree with that one.

"Completely gorgeous." She said, wiping down the bar top at the far end. Finding small joy in verbalising what had been on the tip of her tongue for what felt like years.

"And I love her." Hans said, though this time he was talking more to himself and punctuating his words with a coupe of wobbly nods. "But Anna!" He suddenly shouted lifting his head abruptly. Anna looked up, her eyebrows raised.

"Anna! We haven't had sex since… you know. Her parents and everything." He divulged in a dramatic stage whisper. Anna gulped and said nothing. "Can you imagine?" Hans continued, "Can you imagine _not _having sex with Elsa? I mean, if she was your girlfriend. Well, not _your_ girlfriend obviously because, well…" Hans began to giggle. Before this moment Anna wouldn't have believed that Hans was capable of giggling, but she would have been wrong. She was thankful not to have to answer his question though.

By this time, Anna had finished clearing up everything that she needed to and was well and truly ready for bed. She had planned to spend the evening not thinking about Elsa, and had instead spent it hearing about nothing but Elsa. Hans was a mess, he was a drunken mess and it was partly Anna's fault.

Anna had been bombarded with information and given no time to process it. Her mind was awhirl with all that Hans had let slip. She felt terrible for Elsa, for the loss of her parents, for all the pain that she must have gone through and still be going through. But she also felt for Hans. His words had not been malicious. He was obviously drowning his sorrows quite literally, and his sorrows seemed very real. It was clear that he was hurting for Elsa, for himself, and for their relationship. It pained Anna to see the man who normally was a pure joy sink to this level of despair.

"Come on Hans." Anna said, pulling on her jacket and walking around to the customer side of the bar. "I think it's time we headed home, don't you?" She asked, patting Hans on the back gently.

Hans nodded. He was not going to fight to stay out. He might have been drunk, but he knew he's had enough. He didn't want to be a bother to Anna. He stood up from the stool and instantly swayed dangerously on his feet. Anna leapt forward and steadied him, then pulled his arm over her shoulders so he could lean his weight on her and together they exited the bar.

Anna had always been glad that she lived so close to work and tonight she was gladder than ever before. Hans wasn't a huge guy, but he was a dead weight as he leant against her on the short walk up the street.

"I am sorry, Anna. I didn't mean to throw all this at you tonight." The cold night air seemed to have sobered him up a small amount.

"It's OK, Hans. It sounds like maybe you've needed to talk about this stuff for a while." Anna replied honestly.

"Please don't think any less of me." Hans said softly. He was still slurring a bit, but Anna knew his words were nothing less than genuine.

"I don't. I swear." Anna assured him.

"Are you going to tell Elsa?" he asked. Anna nearly laughed at how much he sounded like a little boy who didn't want to be in trouble with his mother, but laughter didn't seem fitting for the moment.

"I won't tell her. I think she might figure out that you've had a bit too much though." Anna said, allowing just the smallest chuckle to escape.

"That's an understatement." Hans replied, he too had a small smile on his lips.

Once they had entered the building and made it precariously up the three flights of stairs, Anna watched Hans struggle with his keys for a moment before taking them from his hands and opening his apartment door as quietly as possible.

It was well past midnight now and Anna didn't want to disturb Elsa any more than Hans would when he went to bed. To Anna surprise though, once the two of them made it through the front door, Hans made a beeline for the couch instead. He sat down heavily and began to pull off his shoes.

"Thank-you, Anna. You're a good friend." He said, looking up from his shoes at Anna.

"You're welcome, Hans. I hope you feel OK in the morning." She replied. "In fact…"

Anna made her way as noiselessly as possible to the kitchen. She opened a couple of cupboards until she found one that contained glasses, pulled one down and filled it with water. Placing the glass on the counter, she began rooting around in her purse. Anna found what she was looking for and returned to the couch. She put the glass of water and painkillers on the coffee table and turned to look at Hans. He was fast asleep, a thin blanket pulled over himself and his socked feet sticking out one end.

Anna smiled sadly at the sight. She had no idea what she had gotten herself into, but it was clearly quite a sorry tale. She took one more glance at Hans as he released a whistling snore and made her way back to the kitchen, switching out the light with a click.

It was when Anna was heading back to the door that she realised there was another noise in the apartment. It wasn't her own footsteps, and it wasn't Hans' light snores. She could hear water running somewhere. Elsa wasn't asleep at all. She wasn't tucked up all snug in bed as Anna had hoped. She was having a shower at nearly 1am. And what's more, there was another noise besides the water. Elsa was singing. It had to be Elsa. The noise was in the apartment, and it was a woman singing.

Anna had never heard anything like it. Well, no, in fact she had heard voices like it. But they had always been on the radio, on TV, in movies, or more than likely in front of bands on the stage at Oaken's. Elsa had an incredible voice. Anna didn't recognise the song that she was singing, but she could feel the emotion within the notes, she could feel everything that Elsa was pouring into it. Anna could stand there all night and listen to that voice. Elsa was full of surprises, and Anna had learnt a few of them in quick succession tonight.

So wrapped up was Anna in listening to Elsa sing that she handed noticed that Hans' snores had ceased.

He sat up groggily on the couch and rubbed his eyes.

"I haven't heard her do that in so long…" He sighed, making Anna jump. She had forgotten he was there at all.

"It's beautiful." Anna whispered.

* * *

The memory of that first time she heard Elsa sing would stay with Anna for the rest of her life, long after she said goodnight to Hans and regretfully let herself out of number seven. She hadn't wanted Elsa to find her eavesdropping in the living room in the early hours of the morning, but she hadn't wanted to leave either.

Anna lay in her bed that night and sleep claimed her rapidly. She thought that she would struggle to find peace with all the new information that had been jammed into her brain that evening, and yet she slipped easily into a deep slumber, subconsciously promising herself that she was think it all through more carefully in the morning. That night, Anna's dreams were filled with Elsa's song.


	10. Chapter 10

**The Chance to Fly, Chapter Ten**

**A.N: Hello faithful readers! As always, thanks for hanging in there. We are beginning to get somewhere, promise. As I said last time, the next few chapters are a bit intense, but you knew it had to happen some time! **

**So, on we go! I hope you enjoy, do let me know your thoughts, feelings, frustrations. I'm always listening!**

* * *

When Anna awoke the following morning it took a minute or two of remembering before the events of the night before came pouring back into her mind. She recalled the sorry sight of a drunken and distressed Hans baring his soul to her at the bar. She recalled learning what had happened to Elsa's parents with a sensation that felt like cold hands taking hold of her heart and squeezing it. She recalled Elsa's voice, singing with such pure beauty and abandon.

The overwhelming nature of last night's revelations weighed heavily on Anna. She had decided just 24 hours ago that she needed to distance herself a little from the gorgeous, taken, and almost definitely straight woman next door. Now, with the knowledge of what Elsa has recently been through, Anna wanted nothing more than to barge into the number seven apartment, sweep Elsa into a tight hug and tell her that everything is going to be OK. And then probably spend the rest of the day stroking that glossy blonde hair or something.

Of course, Anna knew how absurd that would be. She knew it was Hans' job to comfort his own girlfriend. She also knew that Elsa wasn't even aware that Anna knew about what had happened. If Elsa wanted Anna to know then she would have told her. Not to mention the fact that as far as Elsa knew Anna was also 100% into men (everyone is straight until proven otherwise, right?). The idea of anything other than platonic, neighbourly friendship between the two had probably never occurred to Elsa, as far as Anna was concerned.

Anna did her best to empty her head of this most recent conundrum, deeming it all too much for consideration this early in the morning.

The redhead threw herself out of bed, dressed with haste and sprang into the kitchen where Kristoff was seated at the table, laptop open and a thoughtful look upon his face.

"Morning." Anna said, surprising herself with how tired she sounded, despite her speedy morning ablutions.

"Good morning, little sister." Kristoff chirped. "How was work last night?"

For a fleeting moment Anna contemplated breaking down and just spilling her guts to her big brother. She wanted to tell him that Hans had drunkenly divulged too much information, she wanted to tell him that she had accidently fallen truly, madly, deeply in love with their new neighbour. She wanted to tell somebody something at least. But she stopped herself.

"Yeah, it was fine." She replied. Turning to peruse the selection of cereal on the counter.

"Good. Listen, Anna, that meeting I had yesterday with the sponsors…" Kristoff started, pushing the top of his laptop down a bit so he could see Anna, "they want me to do another comp." he finished.

"That's great, Kristoff!" Anna shrieked, turning her attention back to Kristoff and rounding the table in a single bound before wrapping her arms around her brother's neck.

"Thanks," he replied, patting her arm gently. "But… it's in New Zealand. And I'll be gone for a month." He finished, pulling back so he could read the reaction on Anna's face.

"Oh." She said. "Well… that's still great Kristoff. I'm proud of you." Anna spoke quietly but with complete honesty.

"You sure?" he asked tentatively.

"Am I sure I'm proud of you? Of course I am, you big doof!" Anna replied, roughing up Kristoff's blond hair. She knew what her brother was actually asking her, but for some reason she didn't trust herself to answer quite honestly.

"Anna. You know what I mean." He said sombrely, shoving her back gently.

"Kristoff. I'm a big girl. I can take care of myself. A month isn't that long, and you'll have an amazing time!" She said, forcing as genuine a smile as she could manage onto her face. And she wasn't lying, she was a big girl, and she could take care of herself. True, right now she felt a little bit like she struggling to keep her head above water with her feelings for Elsa and her awkward friendship with Hans. But she was also proud of her brother, and she wanted him to take every opportunity he was offered.

"Thanks, Anna. To be honest, I'm kind of glad Hans is next door now. Someone to keep an eye you!" he said, only half joking but still trying to lighten the rather heavy conversation topic he had thrust at Anna the minute he saw her. Anna bit her tongue, forcing her face to remain neutral regardless of the emotions that were bubbling up inside her at Kristoff's comment. The idea of Hans keeping an eye of _her_ seemed almost laughable that morning.

"Right, yeah. Anyway, I'm going to go out for a bit, get some… groceries." She said, grabbing her keys and making a swift exit into the hall.

Anna could feel the tension within her creeping upwards steadily. She needed to get out, get away from the apartment – and in doing so get away from the apartment next door – she needed a bit of fresh air, a bit of time to herself. Suddenly she needed it all rather desperately.

Anna shut the door behind her with a bang, completely missing Kristoff calling after her that she hadn't had any breakfast. She found that she was rather anxious to be outside and on her own and she nearly had her wish. She rounded the end of the hallway and put her first step on the stairwell when she heard her name being shouted.

"Anna!"

She took a deep breath, forcing her shoulders into a relaxed position and looked up. Hans was lurking by the door to her apartment, he appeared to be wincing slightly, Anna surmised it was perhaps a little painful for him to raise his voice much on this particular morning.

"Hi." Anna replied, the tension in her shoulders multiplying. She resigned herself to another probably uncomfortable run-in with the auburn haired man. She could see her morning out in the fresh air drifting out of her grasp. Hans walked slowly towards Anna and met her by the railing to the stairwell.

"Anna, I'm so sorry." He said in earnest, reaching out and tugging both of her hands tentatively. Anna was about to speak, about to reassure him that it was fine, that they didn't need to talk about it, about to make her escape. But Hans carried on. "What I said, about Elsa, it was totally unnecessary. I shouldn't have told you what happened to her parents, I shouldn't have… it's not up to me to discuss that kind of stuff." Hans rambled on, remorse etched onto every inch of his face.

"Hans," Anna sighed, there was no avoiding this talk, "You clearly needed to talk about it. It's OK. I'm not going to let Elsa know about it. You're right; it's up to her. But you're dealing with it too. You should have someone to talk to about it." Anna ventured. Inwardly she was hoping and praying that 'someone to talk to' was not going to be her. Though, really, Anna was learning for herself how much a person needed to have someone else to discuss personal problems with.

"You're right. I let it get on top of me last night. Sometimes I just need to… I don't know." Hans trailed off. It was clear to Anna that the man was still feeling not small amount of anguish.

"It's fine, Hans. Look, I've got to—" Anna tried once more to make a break for it, but Hans interrupted.

"And, oh God, I told you how long it had been since Elsa and I… were intimate." Hans covered his face with an exasperated hand as though that particular snippet of the night before had only just re-emerged. The idea of wanting the ground to swallow oneself whole is an image far too regularly used, but Anna could the desire for just that seeping into every inch of Hans. She couldn't help but feel for the guy.

Anna nodded and shuffled her feet. She was thankful that at least Hans was being less crude with his wording in the harsh light of day. Hans winced once more.

"I shouldn't have said that either. I was… frustrated. For lack of a better word. But I shouldn't have talked about our relationship like that, not with you." Hans reiterated.

"I agree. Your sex life is not something I really want to discuss with you. Maybe that's something you should to Elsa about?" Anna suggested, trying anything to steer the conversation in a less personal direction.

"I'm not sure that would go well." Hans said quietly. "Anyway, look, Anna, I just wanted to thank-you for putting up with me last night."

"I work in a bar. It's part of the territory!" Anna joked. It wasn't really true. Working in a bar wasn't exactly what the old movies made it out to be. Anna was rarely used as some kind of alcohol-providing agony aunt, and on those few occasions when customers did want to vent, it wasn't about people that Anna actually knew.

"You're a good friend, Anna." Hans let out. He looked Anna in the eye, and she knew that he was truly sorry about what had occurred the night before. And Anna did feel for him. It must be incredibly hard to be the sole comfort for someone who had lost pretty much everything. Anna remembered that Elsa had said she was an only child. Losing her parents must have been earth shattering for her, and supporting her through it must have been almost equally painful for Hans. She suddenly had a great respect for the man before her, she was able to put his indiscretion into context. Anna put a hand on his upper arm and rubbed it gently.

"I'm sure Elsa appreciates everything you've done for her, you know." Anna said softly. She felt Hans tremble slightly at her words.

"Thank-you." He replied just quietly. Then he seemed to shake himself a little bit. "Still, I do apologise for my behaviour. I'm not usually much of a drinker, and clearly I went a little too far last night. My conduct was inappropriate towards you. I hope I didn't offend you." Hans said, looking once more into Anna's eyes. He seemed indisputably embarrassed, and Anna couldn't help but feel for the guy.

"You didn't, I understand." She said, finding that her words were, in fact, true.

"Anyway, I better go back. I haven't seen Elsa yet today, and she's bound to have noticed my state last night." Hans said, looking over his shoulder as though the woman herself may be watching him. Anna smiled.

"I'm sure she'll be fine." She said. Hoping for Hans' sake that she was right. "I'm going to head out now, anyway. Take it easy Hans." Anna added, finally making her way back towards the stairwell.

"See you around Anna, and thank-you again!" Hans called to her retreating form. Anna lifted an arm in response as she hopped down the first couple of steps.

"Drink lots of water!" Anna called up to Hans, she heard him let out a laugh in response as she ducked out of sight and down the rest of the stairs.

By the time Anna made it to the lower foyer of her building her pace was practically at a run. She burst out of the doors, thankful that there had been nobody loitering the other side of them. She found herself on the street and gasping slightly for air.

To say it was out of character for Anna to feel this level of negative tension clogging up her mind would be an understatement. Anna was pretty much the definition of happy-go-lucky. She took life as it came, and generally it was good to her. Many people might expect a child who grew up knowing very little about her father to carry some kind of chink in their emotional armour. Many people might expect anybody whose sexuality didn't match the majority would have some kind of psychological scarring to show for their years of doubt and discovery. But Anna didn't fit either of those stereotypes.

True, her father was a bit of a shadowy figure. She knew his name and she knew about the relationship he had had with her mother. But she didn't miss him, she didn't long for a father-figure, she didn't spend her nights wondering if he thought about her. If he _did_ ever think about her enough to want to get in touch, then he knew how to go about it. If not, well, so be it.

And as far as Anna's preference for the so-called fairer sex went, it had always been a bit of a non-issue in her family. She had been a complete tomboy growing up. Sure, she kept her hair long and she would often wear dresses and skirts, but there is more to being a tomboy than appearance. Anna had always had the demeanour of a tomboy. She was hardly one for delicate sensibilities. As a child, her knees were always scraped and bruised. She spent half her days clambering up pine trees with Kristoff, and the other half fishing in the mountain tributaries once the ice had melted. She had little time for girl talk, and tears were rarely seen staining her cheeks. Of course, being a tomboy does not equate an interest in women, but it came as no surprise when, in her teenage years, it became clear that that was where Anna's interest lay. She had always had boyfriends, but they were exactly that; boy friends. When Anna had first brought home a little dark haired girl from school, it had been not only the first girl friend that Anna had invited to the house, but also the first time Anna's mother had ever seen her daughter blush.

There had been no big conversation, no tense wringing of hands and deliverance of uncomfortable explanations, no hugs of acceptance and promises of eternal parental love. It hadn't been necessary.

Now, as Anna made her way along the street, with her arms pulling her jacket tight and wrapping around her own waist, head bowed and no destination in mind, she wished that she did have a couple of girl friends to discuss her problems with. It hadn't been a conscious decision that all her friends were guys. It just seemed to have happened. Anna hadn't grown up with a sister, she had never been entirely sure of the etiquette that came along with female friends. At this particular moment, she regretted that fact deeply. What was she going to do? Go and spill her guts to Magnus? Have a heart to heart with Oaken and Sven? Neither of those options were looking particularly favourable.

Anna spied a small stone on the sidewalk ahead of her and when she reached it, she swung her foot back and gave it a good kick. She watched the stone leap along the path in front of her and sighed. This turmoil was alien. She was tempted to call her mom. They hadn't spoken in a while, apart from the odd text message to check in. Her mom would probably understand, she'd probably have some suggestion as to how to deal with Hans, and maybe even how to forget about Elsa.

But Anna didn't want to forget about Elsa. She felt that, in fact, she probably couldn't forget about Elsa even the two never crossed paths again. Anna had never felt this way about anyone.

The redhead was at a loss. When it was simply her regrettable feelings for the mysterious goddess next door, she could at least control them and convince herself that said goddess was in a happy, loving and committed relationship. Now though, now she knew that not only was the relationship not as happy as she had thought, but Elsa herself was far from happy. Anna had compassion coming out of her ears. She could feel herself overflowing with emotion. Something had to give.

After he had watched Anna out of sight. Hans turned to head towards his own apartment. He felt a bit better after talking to the redhead. He had at least apologised, which is what he had needed and wanted to do since the moment he opened his bleary eyes. And Anna had seemed to understand. She hadn't seemed upset of too put-off by his behaviour, although he still couldn't forgive himself for it. Plus, Anna had agreed not to tell Elsa what had happened, or what he had let slip. Hans still couldn't believe he had told Anna all of that. The only reason he could come up with for his loose lip syndrome was that he felt an innate trust in Anna. There was something about the sparky, younger girl that he had found instantly likeable, something open. 'Open' wasn't something that Hans had been very familiar with recently. But Anna was so upfront, so down-to-earth. It was refreshing.

For a fleeting moment after their first encounter Hans had asked himself whether he was perhaps attracted to Anna. Thinking of that internal query now though would have made him laugh out loud if it wasn't so likely to prompt veins of pain in his already aching head. He was not attracted to Anna. He was aware that she was _attractive, _but he wasn't into it. If anything, he envied Kristoff for having her as a little sister. Hans would have liked a sister, rather than an abundance of older brothers.

The auburn haired man reach his door and snuck back into his apartment, wondering if Elsa had appeared yet. She was usually up before him but this morning his splitting headache had forced him from his slumber earlier than normal.

Sure enough, on turning towards the kitchen, contemplating a steaming mug of coffee, Hans saw Elsa perched at the counter.

"Good morning." She said, a slightly pitying smile on her face. "You were back late."

Just from her expression Hans could tell that Elsa knew he was not feeling quite 100% that morning. He just nodded, a little thrown by the expression his girlfriend wore.

"Coffee? I've just made you some." She said, standing gracefully from her seat.

"Yes please." Hans uttered gratefully.

Elsa pottered about in the kitchen for a moment or two before returning with a tray holding a fresh pot of coffee, two mugs and a few slices of toast. She passed Hans without a word and went to the living area, depositing the tray on the coffee table, moving Hans' shoes from where they had remained since the night before, and folding the blanket. Hans followed her silently and sat down. Elsa poured him a large mug of coffee and one for herself. Hans sipped the hot liquid appreciatively and watched Elsa turn to face him, lifting her legs onto the couch and bending them beneath her.

"I'm sorry about last night." She said. Hans raised his eyebrows. He had not been expecting that.

"You don't have to—" he began.

"No. I shouldn't have shouted at you. I know you're only trying to help, I know you're always trying to help. I haven't been fair to you." She continued. Hans sat in stunned silence.

"Did you have a good time?" She asked, interest clear in her voice.

"I… drank too much." Hans admitted. Elsa laughed. He couldn't remember the last time he heard her laugh when they were alone.

"Elsa, what—" Hans wanted to ask what the hell was going on, but his hung-over brain couldn't quite find the polite way to raise the query.

"What's going on?" Elsa suggested. Hans wondered if the blonde had developed telekinesis over night. First she told him that she knew he always tries to help her – a fact that he's often wondered if she was aware of – and now she can tell what he's about to say. He nodded once more. For a normally chatty guy, words were not forthcoming this morning. Elsa sighed.

"It's time for a change. I've been wallowing for too long. Since my parents… since the accident, I've just been… alive. Not living, you know?" Elsa asked. Hans nodded again, shocked into silence at Elsa's openness.

"It's been horrible. The worst year of my life. Every morning I still wake up and have to remember that it wasn't all some sick nightmare." She continued, Hans reached for her hand and she allowed him to take it.

"I miss them. But I'm always going to miss them. I can't continue to live like this, I can't continue to allow _you_ to live like this." Elsa insisted, giving Hans' hand a squeeze in her own.

"I haven't been fair to myself and I haven't been fair to you. It's still going to be hard, it's still going to hurt, but I have to try to get back to some sort of normality." She finished and looked thoroughly relieved to have got all of her words out. Hans pulled her in for a hug.

"I can't tell you how happy I am to hear you talk like this, babe." He said softly, stroking her hair.

"If there's anything I can do, anything at all, then I'll do it. You only have to ask me." he said, pulling back and looking directly at her. What he saw on her face surprised him. Elsa sighed, and leaned back, sitting on her feet.

"I know that this morning may not be the best time for this conversation, Hans, and I'm sorry you probably have a bit of a headache already, but… Hans, I think we need to talk about _us._"


	11. Chapter 11

**The Chance to Fly, Chapter Eleven**

**A.N: Alright guys, here's the deal: I'm taking a bit of risk with posting this as I don't have the next chapter written, not even a little bit. I do know what's going to happen though. Anyway, you all seemed highly eager to know what Elsa and Hans' little chat was going to entail, so here it is... Some of you are also a bit antsy to get the Elsanna stuff, and here's my line on that: relationships don't just burst into being in real life, there can be attraction sure, but when one person is in a relationship and the other is, well, Anna, then things take time. We'll get there, I promise, and we're getting closer every chapter.**

* * *

"_Hans, I think we need to talk about us." _

Those words of Elsa's had been the last possible thing Hans had expected to come out of her mouth. He had expected perhaps a slight telling off for his drunken state the night before, as demonstrated by his clear hangover. He had thought, at best, he might receive Elsa's trademark frosty indifference. He had not expected to be greeted with a sympathetic smile and a cup of coffee. He had not expected Elsa to want to discuss their relationship. But that was exactly the situation Hans now found himself in; sitting on the couch with Elsa facing him, legs tucked beneath her, and an uncertain look strewn across her features.

"OK…" Hans finally replied hesitantly, having absolutely no idea where this conversation was heading.

"OK." Elsa returned. She straightened her back, and Hans noticed her hands tensing into fists in her lap, as though psyching herself up for something. Elsa knew this conversation would come as a surprise to Hans. She knew he had tried relentlessly to make things between them alright, happy even. A mere matter of days ago, she had resolved herself to stay with him for as long as he stuck around, so as not to let his valiant efforts be in vain. But she had seen now; she had seen how their relationship weighed on him, no matter how much he tried to hide it, she saw how she herself weighed on him. She had seen it in his frustration with her the night before, she saw it in the desperate glances skyward when she refused to go for a drink with him, she saw it in his defeated and bloodshot eyes this morning. Letting him go would be doing him a favour. And she wasn't doing this for any other reason. She was doing this for Hans. She was doing it for herself. It felt like the past week had been full of light bulb moments for Elsa; she may as well follow through on this one.

"It doesn't work." Elsa said after a long pause. The words spilled from her mouth so quickly that Hans barely caught them. Elsa's poise from earlier was slipping no matter how she tried to cling onto it. Her eyes darted around the room, glancing anywhere but at the man before her.

"Wh- What?" Hans sputtered, once Elsa's statement had filtered through his foggy mind. "Elsa, what are you…" He shook his head, still not entirely sure he was quite understanding what was happening. Elsa sighed and finally allowed her eyes to meet his own. Her back lost its rigidity and she appeared to deflate a bit, slumping forward.

"Hans… When we got together, everything was fine. We were both happy, we were both riding high on a new relationship, we had fun together, we had… Well, you know, we actually had sex and stuff…" At that comment, Elsa's eyes shifted from Hans once more and focussed on her lap where she was now tugging at the sleeve of her shirt nervously.

Hans' eyebrows were meeting in the middle, face wrinkled in confusion. He nodded. So far, everything his girlfriend had said was undeniably true.

"But… But then, when my parents…" Elsa cleared her throat, her hands clenching once more. "When my parents died, Hans, we'd barely been together a couple of months. We didn't have a chance to really enjoy that honeymoon period, that 'can't keep your hands off each other, need to be together all the time' bit of the relationship. You know?" Elsa paused, her words were coming more freely now, and she looked at Hans, pleading with him to know where this was going.

"Well, yeah, but Elsa, with your parents and everything, we kind of just had to deal with it and—" Hans began before Elsa cut him off.

"Exactly!" She exclaimed, it came louder than she had planned and Hans ducked slightly at the sound, Elsa's raised voice buffeting around the walls of his hung-over brain. "Sorry." She said, putting a hand on his shoulder apologetically before pulling it back.

"That's what I mean, Hans. We _had_ to deal with it. I feel like with the way things happened, we missed out on that chance to know if we really worked together, to know if our relationship was really what we were both looking for." A tone of sadness was beginning to echo in her voice, and Hans picked up it on immediately.

"Elsa, stop. You're making it sound like I had no choice but to stick by you, that if the accident hadn't happened then we wouldn't still be together. I don't think like that, Elsa. I don't think like that at all." Hans' hangover was starting to be the least of his concerns; in fact, he was barely noticing it now that Elsa's intent was becoming clear.

"That's not quite what I mean." Elsa muttered. "You've been amazing. Ever since that awful day a year ago, you've been with me, you've supported me, comforted me. You found this place," At that moment Elsa gestured at the apartment around them, "You sorted out my parents' estate… Hans, I couldn't have asked for anyone better to have been by my side through this." Elsa had reached for one of Hans' hands now, pulling it into her own lap and twisting in her position on the couch so she could look him fully in the face.

"But Hans, I haven't been fair to you. What I've given back… I haven't… I've held you back. What we have now, this situation… this isn't a relationship anymore." Her voice dropped until it was barely a whisper. She watched as Hans' head dropped, she lost eye contact with him, and for a couple of long moments there was no sound in the room, other than the faint hum of the fridge across in the kitchen.

Elsa tugged on the larger, rougher, warm hand that she still had grasped between her own. "Hans?" She said softly. Hans remained quiet for another second or two before Elsa heard him take a deep breath, his shoulders quaking as he did so.

"I know." He said. His eyes remained focussed on the floor in front of him, pointedly not looking at Elsa. At his words, Elsa felt a tear begin to blur her vision.

"I love you Elsa, I care about you more than anyone, when I see you cry, it… I can't stand it. But I've seen so many tears, I've watched you sink lower and lower, and I haven't been able to do a thing about it."

"You have! You have helped me so much—" Elsa interrupted before Hans spoke again as if she hadn't spoken at all.

"You're like my family." He continued, "This year has been… really, really hard. It's been devastating for me too. It's been exhausting and yet I've never wanted to be anywhere else. Elsa, I love you. But I'm not in love with you anymore." Hans voice cracked as he let out his final comment, and he finally looked up at Elsa. His eyes were glistening and he was unsurprised to see a wet track making its way down Elsa's cheek as well.

"You're right. Everything that we've had to cope with has altered our relationship. It has changed what we are to each other. I've never wanted to leave you, but we're not really a couple anymore. We haven't been for some time." Hans spoke slowly, feeling relief with every syllable of honesty.

"I feel the same way." Elsa replied quietly.

For both of them, the knowledge that a feeling that had caused them so much guilt and anguish was, in fact, a feeling they shared, prompted a great wave of liberation. Elsa was surprised to feel something between a sob and a laugh erupting in a burst from her throat. Hans smiled at her, allowing one single drop to escape from his eyes.

Hans leant forward and wrapped Elsa in his arms, she immediately returned the hug, and it felt like the most jointly reciprocated moment they had shared in a long time. They remained that way for several minutes, allowing each other the time to compose themselves.

"If it had been different, if your parents were still around, if the last year hadn't happened, do you think we'd still be happy together?" Hans ventured at last, pulling back so he could look at Elsa again. There was no hint of remorse in his voice, just general interest.

"I don't know." Elsa said, "I guess it doesn't really matter. This is the hand we were dealt." She finished, deciding that it really wouldn't help either of them to start with the 'what ifs', and remembering her vow to herself that it was time to stop living in the past.

"But Hans, I don't want to lose you. You really are the only family I have now, you still mean a lot to me and—" Elsa began.

"Elsa. I'm not going anywhere. I will always be here for you. Like I told you, I love you… I just… Don't get me wrong, you're still crazy hot, it's just… I don't want to have sex with you." Elsa looked up at Hans sharply and saw the cheeky smile spreading across his mouth; he let out a laugh at the outraged expression on her face. Seeing that he was just playing, Elsa smacked Hans lightly in the arm.

"Well, I don't want to have sex with you either." She said, a joking haughtiness to her words.

"Oh thank _God_," Hans let out, "I'm so tired of having to fight you off every night." He was still joking, and he had to admit, it felt good to be able to joke with Elsa again. Elsa laughed softly.

"So, what do we do now?" Elsa asked quietly.

"I guess we start just being friends." Han replied simply.

"Friends." Elsa repeated. "That sounds nice. We've never really been friends, but I'd like to try."

"We don't have to make any big changes too soon." Hans added quickly.

"No." Elsa agreed. "We should do this slowly. I can't imagine not having you around."

"I already told you I'm not going anywhere," Hans smiled at her reassuringly. "It's so good to see you start to take steps forward, but I know it's going to be hard, I know there's still going to be days when you need some support."

"You're right, I'm sure. Thank-you, Hans, for everything." Elsa returned the auburn man's smile, with a genuine one of her own. "But I'm here for you too, OK?" She added, making sure Hans could feel the honesty in her words.

It seemed so simple, so easy, that a year of anguish and months of feeling, well, knowing, that their relationship was not working, came down to one conversation, on one morning, out of the blue. But Hans knew it wasn't _that_ simple. He knew this conversation, this revelation, could not have occurred any sooner. It could only have happened when Elsa was one the one to initiate it, when Elsa was ready. He would never have left her; he hadn't been lying when he said that. He couldn't have been the one to tell her it wasn't working. Never would he walk away from the blonde. Maybe they weren't in love, but he cared deeply for her.

He was also aware that it seemed Elsa's epiphany had only occurred the night before. Sure, perhaps it had been brewing for a while, but Elsa had made her decision in one moment the previous evening. The previous evening when Hans had been pouring liquor down his neck and pouring his heart out to Anna. Elsa would still have set backs, he knew that, she was still to have bad days. But he would be there for her through them. And now, he felt like he could be honest with her too. She was stronger now. Stronger than she had been for the past year. Stronger even than when he had first met her. She wasn't about to fall, but he would be ready to catch her regardless.

"OK. So, friends?" Hans let out, his smile gaining a youthfully optimistic edge.

"Friends." Elsa replied, smiling right back at him.

* * *

While Elsa's day had turned out to be surprisingly positive, Anna's seemed to be stuck in a downwards spiral. She had stomped around the city streets until she was sure she must have rubbed the bottom of her shoes completely flat. It had been at least a few of hours, but still her mind was stuck. She didn't know why she was so messed up over her current situation, but the more she thought about it the worse she felt. Eventually, she decided that no amount of walking was going to make her feel better. She remained focussed on the knowledge that drunken Hans had dropped on her the night before, and on her completely futile and yet immoveable feelings for Elsa.

Her head was pounding with a dull ache, a pressure stemming from behind her eyes that was most likely due to the frown she had been unable to shift. Anna turned down another street and began to make her way home. She decided that it would probably be for the best if she just went back to bed. Some days were just never meant to be but it was late afternoon now and she had at least given the day the chance to improve.

Anna returned to her apartment building and trudged up the stairs. For once, it seemed, she wasn't going to bump into anyone in the hall, and she had never been more thankful for that. Letting herself into the apartment, she was dimly aware of Kristoff back at the kitchen table, laptop open once more. He looked up as she entered.

"Hey, Anna! I've booked my flights for New Zealand!" Kristoff called excitedly. Anna raised a hand in her brother's direction but fully intended to continue on the path to her bedroom.

"That's great, Kristoff." She said over her shoulder. Her aim had been to maintain enthusiasm over her brother's exciting trip, but with that single sentence, she had lost the battle. Now, back at home, Anna felt an overwhelming tiredness seeping through her body. Her legs felt heavy, and she wanted nothing more than to fall face first into her bed. Anna pulled her keys from her pocket and dropped them onto the kitchen counter.

"I know!" her brother continued, clearly not noticing Anna's disinterested tone. "I leave in two days."

"Cool." Anna replied, pulling one arm and then the other out of her leather jacket and hanging the garment on a hook by the door. She swiped the beanie hat from her head and attempted to place that too over the hook. The hat hung momentarily and then slipped to the floor. Anna did not pick it up again. She kicked off her shoes and headed to her bedroom door, padding across the carpet in her socks. Kristoff finally looked up at her retreating form.

"Hey!" He shouted. Anna didn't respond.

"Where are the groceries?" He asked more quietly.

* * *

It had been an hour or so since Anna had collapsed into her bed, allowing herself to sink fully into the fluffy comforter and multiple pillows. She felt exhausted, her head was buzzing with the headache that had remained for hours now, and her entire body felt like it was made of lead. But she didn't sleep. She had tried, but it just wasn't happening. Her mind was no longer swimming, but she could feel the wheels turning, and yet getting nowhere at all.

There was a quiet knock at the door. Anna lifted her head towards the sound, but did not say anything. After a pause, the door opened, filling the darkened room with a widening crack of light.

"Anna?" Kristoff asked. "Are you OK?"

"I'm fine." Anna murmured. "Just tired."

Kristoff entered the room and crossed to Anna's bed. Her vision was partially distorted by the comforter she had pulled up to her chin, but she felt the mattress shift slightly as her bulky older brother perched himself on the edge of it.

"I'm not sure you are fine." He said softly. "Come on, Anna. What's up? It's 6pm and you're in bed."

"Because I'm tired. I just said that." Anna replied. Kristoff sighed and put his hand on the comforter, pushing it downwards so that he could see his sister's face. He had to admit, she wasn't looking too good.

"Is it because I'm going away?" Kristoff enquired, his voice telling his apprehension at asking such a question.

"No!" Anna let out in an irritated tone, justifying her brother's caution. "You go away all the time. I said I'm happy for you. God, Kristoff."

"OK, OK." He replied swiftly, hoping to placate his sister as quickly as possible. Anna rarely got angry, but when she did, it was best to stay out of her way.

"Sorry." Anna said quietly. "I'm just tired."

"I don't believe that's all that's going on here, Anna." Kristoff ignored her apology and her explanation. "You went out for groceries and came back with nothing. You were gone for hours!" Kristoff knew it was unwise to push Anna, but he was going away soon, and he wanted to make sure his sister was alright before he left. "Where were you today?"

Anna rolled her eyes. It was clear Kristoff wasn't letting this drop.

"I went for a walk." She said simply.

"A walk? For the whole day?" Kristoff asked incredulously.

"I was thinking!" Anna exclaimed, feeling the tension within her reaching new levels. Kristoff chuckled.

"Well now I _know_ something's wrong. You? Thinking?" he smiled good-naturedly at her.

"Yes. Very funny. Can I go to sleep now?" Anna asked sulkily, she was in no mood for jokes.

"Anna." Kristoff's smile dropped, "Come on. You can talk to me."

"Kristoff! I'm fine. I'm a grown up, I don't need you to be Mom, I just want to go to sleep." Anna had had enough now, her voice was rising by the minute.

"You're not acting like a grown up, sulking in your bed. You're acting like a teenager!" Kristoff was losing his cool as well now. "Just tell me what's going on. I don't want to act like Mom, but I want to know what's going on. I want to know why you're in a mood. If it's because I'm leaving, then you know I'll be back in no time, you know—" Anna's fists were clenching beneath the covers as she interrupted her brother's rant.

"I like Elsa."

She hadn't planned to say that. In fact, she had planned to never say that to anyone at all. And yet the more her brother had pushed her, the more she could feel everything she had been keeping inside begin to try to find a way out. The seams of her control were tearing and something had to give eventually. The minute the words left her lips she felt a coldness flood her body. What had she done?

Kristoff laughed. He actually laughed. Anna couldn't believe it. How was this not a big deal to her brother? She had just confessed to liking their neighbour, the girlfriend of a man that Kristoff was fast becoming friends with.

"Elsa? Elsa next door? That Elsa?" Kristoff was speaking through his laughter, looking at Anna with a look of humoured disbelief.

Anna had no idea what was going on and she could only nod in response.

"How could you possibly like her? She barely even speaks, she could be a horrible person and you wouldn't even know. I mean, yeah, she's hot for sure, but also, really, kind of… well… cold." Kristoff had stopped laughing, but still looked quite amused.

"She does speak! She's lovely, so kind, and gentle and… her voice…" Anna had begun by trying to protect Elsa's integrity to her brother, but by the end of her words, she was speaking more to herself. Kristoff chuckled once more.

"So you've got a crush on the hot new neighbour. Anna, that's no reason to act like the world is ending. You'll get over it, I'm sure."

"It's not a crush!" Anna shrieked, before quietening her voice. "I've tried to get over it, I want to get over it… but also, I don't." She finished, being honest to herself as well as her brother.

"You're serious?" Kristoff exclaimed, his smile now nowhere in sight. "Anna, she's with Hans."

"Yeah, thanks for that, Sherlock." Anna said, her voice laced with sarcasm and a dash of bitterness.

"Hey!" Kristoff said, a little hurt by his sister's tone. "There's no need for that, Anna. It's not my fault you've developed some silly little thing for the girl next door." Anna had pushed him now.

"Can I go to sleep now?" Anna asked coldly. She was well and truly done with this conversation.

"Fine." Kristoff said, getting up from the bed. "But you need to get over this Anna. The woman isn't even gay. Why don't you try to find someone more appropriate?"

"It doesn't work like that, Kristoff!" Anna said, the volume rising in her voice once more. "You think I want to be in love with some guy's girlfriend?"

"In love with? Oh, come on, Anna! You barely know the woman. You can't just chuck yourself into these emotions for someone you just met a couple of weeks ago." Kristoff cried, "And that's not, 'some guy', he's our friend! You can't go around mooning over his girlfriend, it's wrong." He finished. Anna said nothing at all, just pulled the comforter back up until it was nearly covering her face.

"This is weird, Anna. You need to stop it." Kristoff said quietly. Anna still didn't respond. Her head was throbbing relentlessly now. When she had thrown herself into bed, she thought she couldn't possibly feel worse. She had proven that thought wrong though.

Kristoff loitered in the doorway a moment longer, looking at the person shaped lump in the bed. It was clear that Anna had nothing else to say though, and so Kristoff sighed in frustration and let himself out of the room, closing the door with a bang behind him.

Beneath the covers Anna let the tears fall. They streaked down her cheeks though she made no accompanying noise. She had really gotten herself into a mess a now. She couldn't believe how her brother had reacted. She knew his upset wasn't due to Elsa being a woman, her brother had always been cool about that. It seemed that Kristoff was just upset about how seriously Anna was taking this so-called 'crush', and about the fact that Elsa was the girlfriend of Hans. Oh, loveable and charming Hans, who_ never_ gets blind drunk and rants about his non-existent sex life. _No, _Anna thought, _that's not fair. _Anna understood Hans' actions, she even felt for the guy. The situation was just a horrible clutter of emotions, and now Kristoff was involved as well. Her brother had made her feel ridiculous, like a silly little girl with a silly little crush that she was completely overreacting to. She had just so needed someone to voice her problems to. Kept inside, the intensity of the even the smallest fear could multiply massively. With something like this, Anna had just needed to let it out, to release some of the tension that keeping it was causing her.

Anna wished she had never told her brother anything now, she wished it with all her heart as the tears continued to roll soundlessly down her cheeks in the darkness.


End file.
